Chelsea have only won 1 of their last 11 league visits to Aston Villa – can the Blues change that on Saturday? See all the best odds at easyodds.com.

Co-owner Tom Hicks is trying to hijack the sale of Liverpool by selling his stake in the club to US hedge fund Mill Financial.

The club remains hopeful of concluding the ownership saga on Friday by selling to New England Sports Ventures (NESV).

Hicks believes he can scupper those plans by selling to Mill, which assumed control of fellow co-owner George Gillett’s 50% stake in August.

Mill could then pay off the £237m debt owed to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

NESV’s £300m deal is being held up by a restraining order issued by a court in Texas, which is set to resume its hearing at 1300 BST.

But on Friday, NESV owner Henry said on his Twitter feed: “We have a binding contract. Will fight Mill Hicks Gillett attempt to keep club today. Their last desperate attempt to entrench their regime.”

Liverpool must pay off their loan to RBS on Friday to avoid the threat of administration, which could see Liverpool hit by a nine-point penalty in the Premier League, though that is unlikely with a sale imminent.

On Thursday night, Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said he hoped the deal to sell to NESV was close.

“We’re nearly there. We’ve still got to take away the restraining order,” he said.

“Mr Henry is very committed. My guess is we’ll have it done and he’ll be there [the Merseyside derby against Everton on Sunday] – but we’ve got to get rid of this order first.”

Chelsea have only won 1 of their last 11 league visits to Aston Villa – can the Blues change that on Saturday? See all the best odds at easyodds.com.

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