Liverpool - Aston Villa: Combined Duel Represented XI

By Steven Northover

Liverpool travel to Villa Park tonight, knowing that Champions League football is all but guaranteed next season, especially if Aston Villa win their Europa League Final against Freiburg at the end of the month. 

Indeed, Villa form part of the pantheon of British clubs that have won the European Cup, forming part of a triumphant group of English clubs that won the competition five times between 1977 and 1982. Despite Aston Villa's turbulent recent history, playing in the Championship as recently as 2019, there are certain parallels between the two clubs - including players. 

With that in mind, here are 11 of the best players to play for both Liverpool and Aston Villa.

GK - Pepe Reina

Liverpool: 394 appearances - 2005/6 - 2012/13    /   Aston Villa: 12 appearances - 2019/20

Arguably the best goalkeeper of the ‘modern’ era until a certain Brazilian arrived at the club, Pepe Reina was unlucky only ever to win the FA and League Cup at Liverpool - all the while collecting the World Cup and European Championship for Spain. 

He arrived at Aston Villa during the 2019-20 season as cover for the injured first choice Tom Heaton. Whilst his time in the Midlands was fleeting, he played a key role in Villa's survival that season.

LB - Stephen Warnock

Liverpool - 67 appearances 2002/03 - 2006/07    /   Aston Villa - 101 appearances 2009/10 - 2012/13

An academy graduate, Stephen Warnock made his first appearance for Liverpool in a Champions League Qualifying Round against Graz AK. Largely used in rotation with an ever-improving John Arne Riise, Warnock's Liverpool career was first curtailed with several injuries and fitness issues that meant he was never able to reach his full potential at Anfield. 

He arrived at Villa Park at the start of the 2009 season, where he built a reputation as a dependable, efficient defender, in a squad that was pushing for European places. However, his performances began to deteriorate in later seasons, seemingly struggling under new management. Warnock himself has stated openly about his struggles with criticism during this period. 

LCB - Steve Staunton 

Liverpool: 148 appearances - 1987/88-1991/92 & 1998/99-2000/01    /   Aston Villa: 307 appearances - 1991/92-1997/98 & 2000/01 - 2002/03 

Steven Staunton built a successful career as a dependable centre back. Powerful, in his first spell at Liverpool he transformed from a talented youngster to one of the best defenders in the league. 

As he matured, he became a leader and became the kind of player managers depend on to build discipline on often ‘wayward’ teams - his second spell at Liverpool coincided with the decline of the ‘’Spice Boys' era.

RCB - Tiago Ilori

Liverpool:  3 appearances - 2013/14-2016/17    /   Aston Villa: 0 appearances (on loan from Liverpool) 2015/16 

I was tempted to either leave this blank, or just put Staunton twice. 

But anyway, Tiago Ilori arrived in the summer of 2013 as a young prospect - making just three appearances for Liverpool in the 4 years he spent at Anfield - which included a loan at Villa during the 2015/16 season. It is safe to say, then that his career at neither club amounted to anything, but following a spell with Reading (where he made 64 appearances) he returned to his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon in 2018. He is currently without a club after departing FC Dila on the 1st February 2026.

RB - James Milner

Liverpool: 230 appearances - 2015/16 - 2022/23    /   Aston Villa: 73 appearances - 2007/08- 2009/10

I had to be a little bit imaginative with positioning with Milner. 

However, the Premier League's record appearance holder with 663 and counting, is the archetypal " Mr Dependable”, able to play in several positions across the park, he has built a reputation of physical excellence and footballing intelligence - which has combined to create a player who has won just about everything a player could ever want to win.

CM - Ray Houghton

Liverpool:  202 appearances - 1987/88-1991/92     /    Aston Villa: 117 appearances 1992/93- 1994/95 

Ray Houghton's early career is a tale of rejection - released by his first club West Ham after just one game, and ignored by Scotland before choosing to represent Ireland. By the time he had arrived at Liverpool, he was already on to his fourth club. 

But it was at Liverpool where he made his name, as part of a forward line of John Barns, Peter Beardsley, and John Aldridge, where the Irishman became known for a kind of creative runs down the right wing Mohammed Salah would become famous for some thirty years later. 

When he moved to Aston Villa at the end of the 1991/92 season, that combative creative player came with him and Villa were almost able to win the league in his debut season, leading the table at times throughout, before being pipped by Manchester United. 

CM - Harvey Elliott

Liverpool: 149 appearances -  2019/20-    /      Aston Villa: 4 appearances - 2025- (loan)

Away from this list, Harvey Elliot appears to be at a career cross roads - seemingly surplus to requirements at Liverpool under Arne Slot, he has not made a mark at Villa park, and is to return to Merseyside at the end of the season. 

Dynamic, intelligent, and precocious, Elliot has all the attributes to be a world class player - and has already made his mark both in the league and in Europe. He needs game time, and hopefully Slot will have a change of heart, and allow the youngster (still only 23) to flourish once again.

LW - Patrick Berger

Liverpool: 193 appearances - 1996/97-2002/03   /   Aston Villa: 32 appearances - 2005/06-2006/07 

Berger was part of the Czechia national team that caught the eye during Euro96, and we're quickly snapped up English clubs.

With an eye for a spectacular goal, a barrel full of skills, and an attacking threat not seen at Anfield for a number of years, Berger quickly became a fan favourite. Despite being part of the ‘’playboy’ ear of mid-90s Liverpool, he aslo represented the future of the club, flourishing under the spotlight as Roy Evans and then Gérard Houllier began to reinvent the club and bring it into the new millienium. 

When he left in 2003, two years after Liverpool's treble season, it feels like it was mission accomplished. After a short time at Portsmouth, Berger arrived at Aston Villa. Naturally older, and no longer a guaranteed starter, he was still as creative as ever, and quickly became something of an impact player - someone to be brought on in the closing stages.

CAM - Phillipe Coutinho

Liverpool: 201 appearances - 2013/14-2017/18    /   Aston Villa: 43 appearances - 2022/23 

“Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else — to Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid — and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more” is allegedly what Jurgen Klopp said to wantaway Phillipe Coutinho in 2018, and given the evidence - you'd have to say he was right.

Like a miriad of players, the Brazilian arrived at Liverpool as something of an unproven prospect, but developed into one of the best players in the world. Techinally gifted, he became the fulcrum of attacking play under Klopp, with memorable goals against Manchester United and Arsenal, it looked like the forward was about to become the next big thing in football. 

So when he did move to Barcelona, much was expected of his performance. But whether it was the added scrutiny, different managerial styles, or simply because he was no longer ‘number 1’, Coutinho's career floundered and went into a downward spiral that he had never been ever to recover from. 

Even after winning the Champions League whilst on loan at Bayern Munich did not stop the rot - returning to England and to Aston Villa to attempt to rebuild his career.  Things started brightly, under the guidance of legend Steven Gerrard, the Brazilian began to show some of the talent that had made him the talk of Europe. However, with results going the wrong way, Gerrard was relieved of his duties and once again Coutinho appeared to struggle under the new management. He was almost an integral part of a Liverpool title win as he put Aston Villa 2-0 up away at Manchester City on the final day of the season which would have been enough to secure a second Premier League title under Jurgen Klopp, but we all know how that ended.

Now without a club, after career that has taken him to the UAE and back to his homeland, Phillipe Coutinho remains one of the great ‘what ifs' of European football.

RW - Stewart Downing

Liverpool: 91 appearances - 2011/12-2012/13     /    Aston Villa: 79 appearances - 2009/10-2010/11 

Stewart Downing is another player that transferred between the clubs directly. 

After starting his career at Middlesbrough, the winger joined the two clubs over a four year period. At Villa he built a reputation as a tactically adept winger, willing to track back and defend as much as attack, as well as an incredibly fit player - unlikely to miss games through injury. 

However he arrived at Liverpool during a period of protracted upheaval. With the Hicks and Gillet joint ownership starting to crack with poor finances and infighting, Liverpool were no longer able to purchase the same quality of player they may have planned to only a few years earlier. As such, Downing always felt like something of a ‘downgrade’, especially as the likes of Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso had left in recent seasons. 

As Liverpool's attack began to evolve under Brendan Rodgers, Downing ultimately became more a fringe player, eventually leaving for West Ham in 2013. 

ST - Stan Collymore

Liverpool: 81 appearances 1995/96-1996/97      /     Aston Villa: 71 appearances - 1997/98-1998/99