---
title: "Liverpool FA Cup clash with Aston Villa in major doubt"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/aston-villa-liverpool-fa-cup-game-in-doubt-coronavirus/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dan Clubbe"
section: "Liverpool News"
published: "2021-01-07T15:30:00Z"
modified: "2021-01-07T15:42:42Z"
---

# Liverpool FA Cup clash with Aston Villa in major doubt

[Liverpool](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2021/01/07/liverpool-fans-mixed-david-alaba-rumours/)‘s FA Cup third round tie with [Aston Villa](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2021/01/07/naby-keita-ruled-out-of-liverpools-fa-cup-clash-with-aston-villa/) is in major doubt after the Midlands club were forced to[close their training ground](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12181579/villa-have-significant-covid-outbreak-ahead-of-liverpool-tie) on Thursday after an outbreak of Covid-19.

A ‘significant’ amount of positive tests was reported by [Birmingham Live](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-news-coronavirus-outbreak-19577198), leaving Friday night’s clash at Villa Park in serious doubt.

It remains to be seen what would happen with the fixture, with the possibility that Liverpool could be [handed a free passage through](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/07/southampton-could-get-fa-cup-bye-after-shrewsbury-covid-outbreak) to the fourth round, as was the case in the earlier rounds of the competition.

In a bizarre twist of fate, the Reds could face a young Villa side, similarly to how Jurgen Klopp [sent a team of youngsters](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50723225) to the Midlands in last season’s Carabao Cup with the main squad away in Qatar for the FIFA Club World Cup.

### READ LIVERPOOL VERDICT

Klopp will almost certainly make wholesale changes for the cup clash as he has [done throughout](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/fa-cup-liverpool-jurgen-klopp-premier-league-aristocrisy-death-mourn-hypocrisy-a9305241.html) his time as Reds boss.

The possibility of facing a weakened Villa side, especially after being on the receiving end of a [7-2 hammering](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/12090254/aston-villa-7-2-liverpool-dean-smiths-side-demolish-champions) earlier in the season, would be a huge boost for Klopp.

Whilst nobody wants this sort of cancellation to tarnish the season, it is becoming par for the course and, on this occasion, Liverpool could well profit either from an extended break or with a potentially easier passage to the next round.