Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard will welcome back Douglas Luiz for their clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Brazilian missed Gerrard's first game in charge – a 2-0 win over Brighton last weekend – due to hamstring trouble but is set to be available for the trip to Selhurst Park, says the Daily Mail.

Gerrard is unlikely to make significant changes after an encouraging start to his reign but Luiz will be pushing for a place in the starting XI as he has ideal qualities to play the holding role in Villa's 4-3-3 system.

Danny Ings is again set to lead the line with Ollie Watkins starting wide on the left, though Watkins opened the scoring against Brighton after Ings had been substituted and the 25-year-old had been switched to a central attacking role.