Unai Emery needs Villa Park to be at its brilliant best to build momentum in a crucial part of the season.

Aston Villa’s next three matches are all at home, with an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Newcastle United sandwiched between key league fixtures against Brighton and Leeds United.

Despite failing to hold onto a lead against Bournemouth on Sunday, Villa actually gained ground on sixth-placed Liverpool, with fifth position expected to be enough to qualify for the Champions League this season.

The Reds, however, were just five points behind Villa when Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunner against Manchester City before Pep Guardiola's side came back to earn three points themselves.

That leaves Liverpool eight points behind Villa, with an inferior goal difference too, and 13 matches left to play in this campaign.

Emery has been dealt several injury setbacks in recent weeks, with Boubacar Kamara missing for the rest of the season, Youri Tielemans out for another five weeks and John McGinn sidelined until March.

Results have also dipped, notably at home, with defeats to both Everton and Brentford either side of an impressive 2-0 victory at Newcastle.

Villa have...