Aston Villa's best defender set to miss Liverpool match

As a result of being booked twice against Leicester City, Ciaran Clark has a one-match ban. The Ireland international was first booked 63 minutes in, and then received a second yellow card four minutes into stoppage time. Matthew James came in with a terrible tackle on Clark, and the two players got involved in a tussle, with the Leicester seeing a straight red from referee Michael Oliver.

If you're trying to stay positive, (a very tough thing to do around the club these days) there are two takeaways. First, Clark will miss just one game for a double yellow, rather than three for a straight red. Second, Nathan Baker was back on the bench today.

However, looking at it from a negative perspective, this really hurts because Clark has been Villa's best defender after starting the season fifth on the depth chart. Sure, Liverpool have been poor this season, but Villa have been infinitely worse. At least Liverpool can still score.

I guess it could be worse. Jores Okore received his fourth booking of the campaign today. If it had been his fifth, a one-match ban would have been his punishment as well.

Who do you think should start in Clark's place? Should it be Baker? Let us know in the comments!