Aston Villa welcome Liverpool to Villa Park this evening, knowing a win would seal their place in the Champions League next year, and it’s live on talkSPORT.
Unai Emery‘s men are four points ahead of Tottenham with two games remaining in the race for a spot among UEFA’s elite.
It would be a much-needed boost for Villa after the disappointment of crashing out of the Europa Conference League last week.
Meanwhile, Liverpool‘s very slim hopes of winning the Premier League were finally mathematically extinguished at the weekend with Arsenal and Manchester City winning.
The Reds have already secured third and Champions League football will be at Anfield next year as Jurgen Klopp enters his final week as Liverpool boss.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool: Champions League battle
Since Villa were smashed 4-0 by Tottenham earlier this year, the race for fourth has taken a dramatic turn.
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Spurs have lost four of their last five Premier League games, including one of their ties in hand on Villa, to pretty much blow their chances of returning to UEFA’s premier competition.
However, should Tottenham win their last two and Villa only pick up one point, it would be Spurs who would take fourth.
Villa should be able to get the two points they require, but Liverpool at home and Crystal Palace away will be difficult.
Of course, Tottenham play Manchester City and Sheffield United, so unless Villa beat Liverpool, the battle for the final Champions League place could go down to the last day.
But Spurs would likely need to take three points off City to take it to Gameweek 38.
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- Aston Villa have won just one and lost 10 (D1) of their last 12 Premier League games against Liverpool, beating them 7-2 at Villa Park in October 2020.
- Liverpool have won more Premier League away games against Aston Villa than they have vs any other opponent (16), while only against Newcastle and West Ham (35 each) do they have more wins overall than against Villa in the competition (33).
- The last four meetings between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park in all competitions has seen the scoring opened within the first five minutes of the match, with both sides doing so twice.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool: Team news
The Villans are without a host of players, leaving Emery’s squad stretched.
Tyrone Mings and Emi Bunedia have been out all season due to ACL injuries and Boubacar Kamara has the same issue.
Jacob Ramsey has a toe problem, and he has also been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.
Morgan Rogers has a hamstring strain, while Nicolo Zainolo and Alex Moreno are doubtful.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are without Joel Matip due to an ACL injury and Thiago Alcantara is also out.
Diogo Jota is also likely to miss this one.
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- No fixture in Premier League history has been won by the away side more often than Aston Villa vs Liverpool, with 22 of the 57 meetings between them being away wins.
- Since their return to the Premier League in 2019, Aston Villa have won their final home game in three of their four seasons, with the exception being a 1-1 draw with Burnley in 2021-22.
- Liverpool have only lost their final away league game in one of their eight previous seasons under Jürgen Klopp (W5 D2), going down 1-0 at Chelsea in 2017-18.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool: What has been said?
Klopp is one yellow away from a touchline ban and this would mean he would be absent on the sidelines for his Anfield farewell.
And ahead of this match at Villa Park, he has been speaking about what is at stake.
He said: “I’ve known that for a long time. We could turn it around and say I’ve only had two yellow cards all season. A few of my colleagues got suspended right?
“I got calmer over the years, obviously. I don’t need to be [on the touchline for the final day], but it would be cool. I will try absolutely everything to not get involved in any kind of ‘discussions’.”
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- Aston Villa lost 1-0 against Brighton last time out, but haven’t lost consecutive Premier League games since May last year (1-0 vs Manchester United and Wolves).
- Liverpool have only lost one of their last 26 Premier League games in May (W19 D6) and are unbeaten in their last 18 since a 1-0 loss at Chelsea in 2018 (W15 D3).
- Only against Brighton (6) has Ollie Watkins scored more Premier League goals than he has against Liverpool (5). His next goal will be his 20th in the league this season – the last Aston Villa player to score 20+ in a top-flight campaign was Peter Withe in 1980-81 (20).
- Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has both scored and assisted in four different Premier League games this season, with only Cole Palmer doing so more often (5). He’s done it 31 times overall in the Premier League, with only Wayne Rooney (36) and Thierry Henry (32) doing so more.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool: Date and how to follow
This Premier League game is due to take place on Monday, May13.
Kick-off at Villa Park is scheduled for 8pm.
talkSPORT will have coverage from the Midlands, with Adrian Durham serving as your presenter.
Commentary will then come from Joe Shennan and Danny Murphy
talkSPORT.com will also be running a live blog.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.