Ex-Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock has warned Villa could have to go unbeaten until the end of the season to finish above the Reds – even if they beat them tonight.

Villa, bidding to bounce back from Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, will move eight points clear of Rafael Benitez’s eighth-placed side with victory tonight, which would also be enough to see them leapfrog Tottenham back into fourth.

However, Warnock insists the Reds, 2-0 winners over Wolves on Boxing Day, should be written off at their peril with the quality at their disposal.

“I don’t think if we beat them it would automatically rule them out of the Champions League places,” said Warnock.

“I think there’s still too long to go in the season. People are capable of putting good runs together and there’s nothing to say that they won’t go unbeaten until the end of the season.

“And that would mean us going pretty much unbeaten until the end of the season or winning the majority of the games to finish above them.

“It’s still so tight. I don’t think it matters if we beat Liverpool from their point of view. I think it will still be tight.”

And Warnock reckons Villa will have to stop the two best players in Europe in the shape of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard if they are to triumph tonight – despite both players’ campaigns having been hampered by injury.

Doubts remain over whether Spain star Torres, who has described Villa’s defence as the hardest he has faced in England, will be fit enough to start at Villa Park just three days after playing against Wolves as he continues to struggle with a groin problem.

Gerrard, meanwhile, scored what was only his first goal in nine games in the triumph over Mick McCarthy’s men.

However, his class was plain for all to see when he scored a hat-trick in the Reds’ 5-0 Anfield demolition of Martin O’Neill’s men last season.

“They’re a good team,” said Warnock. “They’ve got arguably the two best players in Europe in Torres and Gerrard.

“They are players who would get into anyone’s team and then you’ve got the likes of Glen Johnson, who’s a fantastic player.

“They’ve got class and they’ve got great players. They’re probably just a little bit confidence shy at the moment and once that builds up I’m sure they’ll be back with a bang.” Warnock came through the ranks at Anfield but was eventually forced to move on in 2007 due to a lack of first-team opportunities, joining Blackburn – the side he left for Villa – in a £1.5m deal.

And he insists he has no regrets over leaving the club he supported as a boy.

“It’s a game I look forward to but it’s just another game now,” he added.

“I’ve been away from there for about four or five years now. I don’t look back on it all the time and think ‘Oh I wish it was still there’.

“It’s part of my career that’s gone now. I just look forward to playing the game and seeing a couple of the lads who are still there.”

Skipper Stiliyan Petrov says it will not be hard for Villa to get themselves fired up for the contest, which will be played in front of a sell-out Villa Park crowd, following their disappointment at the Emirates Stadium.

And he says there is no point in Villa complaining that they have 24 hours less to prepare than the Merseysiders, who have won just two of their last six games. “It doesn’t matter any more because if we want to finish where we are aiming for we just need to deal with it – that’s our job,” he said.

“We just need to freshen up and be ready for the Liverpool game. We have players at this club who are hungry to achieve something.

“We have players that want to be remembered at this club. It’s up to us to do it, you will see us going for it. We have done it before and I’m sure we will do it again.”

O’Neill is certain to be without the suspended Ashley Young, meaning at least one change will be enforced.

But after his side appeared to look jaded in the second half in the capital on Sunday, he may be tempted to shuffle his pack after sticking with the same line-up for the previous five games.

Habib Beye, James Collins, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker, Fabian Delph and John Carew – all of whom were on the bench against the Gunners – are vying for a starting spot

And Petrov says all six could easily step in without the quality of the side suffering.

He said: “We have the same quality of players on the bench – John Carew, Steve Sidwell, Nigel Reo-Coker, Habib Beye – players that can step into the team without a problem. It’s great to see. We can count on anybody.”

And he says Villa will take heart from the 3-1 win at Anfield in August which acted as a springboard for their season.

He continued: “It’s a big confidence boost to have already won there but after the spell they have had in recent weeks they will come here raring to go.

“They will try to win the game and we’ll have to be at our best. It’s a big game for both teams.

“Sometimes clubs go through periods like that but they have enough good players and manager to deal with that.

“They have been there for so many years and I’m sure they will have enough quality to pull themselves out.”

Meanwhile, O’Neill will spend the final hours of the build-up to tonight’s clash driving any sense his players may hold of a Liverpool side that is wilting.

Despite the Boxing Day victory over Wolves, the Anfield team is under enormous pressure after a wretched first half of the campaign which saw them fail to get beyond the group phases of the Champions League.

But O’Neill believes the demands of Liverpool’s heritage and traditions will never make them anything less than formidable opponents.

“Liverpool have lost a few games more than they would have thought,” O’Neill said. “Last season they were terrific. They went through the whole season and lost two games. After three games of this season, they had lost two games, but they are getting a bit of momentum again.

“It was a big win for them at Anfield against Wolves at the weekend. I heard Arsenal were supposed to be imploding last season, just about February time, when I think they were in the middle of a 21-game unbeaten run. They finished the season very strongly and Liverpool are capable of doing the same thing.

“They are capable because it’s Liverpool Football Club. Look at Arsenal now. Four weeks ago, they were being written off for the title; now they are right bang in there. That’s what can happen with the top clubs.”

O’Neill leaves the talk about Villa to others as he shuts himself down to the sole focus of keeping his players’ minds on the task.

But he knows critics are gathering again to write off Villa’s chances of breaking through into the top four following the 3-0 reverse at Arsenal.

“I’m not too bothered about who says what,” he adds. “I didn’t get too carried away when we went to Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago and won there. It was three points, it was a boost to confidence and it was terrific.

“But, equally, any side can go to Arsenal and get beaten. I wouldn’t start to think the result was a major shock all over Europe. You can get beaten. What we have to do is fight back against Liverpool.”

By Brendan McLoughlin and Martin Swain