Aston Villa playmaker Philippe Coutinho waited to chat with three Liverpool players after their game on Boxing Day.

Coutinho is a former Red, and still knows many of the players in Jurgen Klopp's squad.

The Brazilian, who has endured a tough season so far, was seen chatting away with Brazilian compatriots Alisson Becker and Fabinho, along with Thiago Alcantara.

Coutinho has played only 33 minutes since Spanish coach Unai Emery took over from Steven Gerrard.

He will have to work very hard to get back into the team.

"Coutinho had two or three training sessions when I arrived here," Emery told Birmingham Live before the Liverpool defeat.

"He trained very good, very good. He was very excited to try to show me and show us his best qualities.

"The injury was in a bad moment for everybody, for him, for the club, for the team. Now, he is training every day and I am seeing him really training well.

"I expect of him the best Coutinho possible. For him, on Monday it is a special match playing 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, in the matches and with his quality he can help us a lot."