Coutinho Set to Return for Aston Villa Against Former Club Liverpool

• Philippe Coutinho is expected to return to action as Premier League returns on Boxing Day
• Aston Villa will host Coutinho's former club Liverpool later this evening at the Villa Park
• Head coach Emery confirms the Brazilian will return but is not guaranteed a play full match

The Premier League will be the first top European football league to return to action when matches kickoff for the Boxing Day fixtures. The English league went on break on December 13, five days to the start of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Brazilian forward Philippe Coutinho missed the tournament in Qatar due to a thigh injury. He has now returned to full training at the Bodymoor Heath training ground of Aston Villa ahead of league restart.

Aston Villa will hope to continue their impressive start to life under former Arsenal manager Unai Emery when they host 2020 League champions Liverpool at Villa Park.

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Emery has now issued an update on the availability of former Liverpool attacker Philippe Coutinho, as he relishes an emotional game against the club that made him popular in English football.

Emery's statement on Coutinho

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery won his first two league games against Manchester United and Brighton. He will hope to continue his unbeaten league start against Liverpool.

Speaking to the media ahead of the game as quoted by Daily Mail, he is backing Coutinho to return from injury against his former club later today:

''I expect of him the best Coutinho possible. For him on Monday it is a special match against Liverpool and I think he is going to be in the squad. He is not ready to play 90 minutes, but I am looking forward to seeing him on the pitch and with his quality he can help us a lot,'' he said.

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The former Barcelona man played for Liverpool between 2013 to 2018 before departing on a dream move to La Liga giants Barcelona.

Coutinho flopped at Barcelona

Sports Brief earlier listed Coutinho as one of the six players who recently departed Liverpool but failed to hit the same height at their next club.

Coutinho failed to replicate his Premier League form in La Liga after Barcelona broke the bank to pay £142m for his signature as reported by the Guardian.

The former Inter Milan man went on loans to Bayern Munich and Aston Villa during his time in Spain before returning to England permanently.