{"id":243615,"date":"2026-05-15T22:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/15\/liverpool-at-risk-of-stunning-collapse-as-second-half-meltdown-leaves-door-ajar-for-shock-scenario\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T22:15:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T22:15:00","slug":"liverpool-at-risk-of-stunning-collapse-as-second-half-meltdown-leaves-door-ajar-for-shock-scenario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/15\/liverpool-at-risk-of-stunning-collapse-as-second-half-meltdown-leaves-door-ajar-for-shock-scenario\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool at risk of stunning collapse as second half meltdown leaves door ajar for shock scenario"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Aston Villa secured Champions League football with a 4-2 win over Liverpool on Friday that leaves the Reds still at risk of missing out on Europe\u2019s elite competition next season.<\/p>\n

Ollie Watkins struck twice as Villa boss Unai Emery was rewarded for naming a strong side just days before the Europa League final.<\/p>\n

\ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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Liverpool slip to fifth and remain just four points ahead of Bournemouth, who have two games remaining.<\/p>\n

Even if the Reds do limp over the line to Champions League qualification, the manner of another dismal defeat raised fresh questions over Arne Slot\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

The Liverpool boss has remained confident he will be in charge next season despite a desperately disappointing title defence.<\/p>\n

Slot was again hampered by a lengthy injury list with Alisson Becker, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike absent, while Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah were only fit enough to come off the bench.<\/p>\n

But Liverpool collapsed alarmingly in the second half just when they had got back into the game thanks to Virgil van Dijk\u2019s equaliser.<\/p>\n

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Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Liverpool.<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emery learned his lesson after a second string side were booed off and beaten by struggling Tottenham ahead of Villa\u2019s Europa League semi-final, second leg against Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n

The Spaniard named what many expect to be his starting line-up for Wednesday\u2019s final against Freiburg in Istanbul as Villa aim to win a major trophy for the first time in 30 years.<\/p>\n

A brilliantly worked short corner routine teed up Morgan Rogers to curl in the opening goal four minutes before half-time.<\/p>\n

Liverpool responded after the break as Van Dijk headed in from Dominik Szoboszlai\u2019s free-kick.<\/p>\n

Moments later the visitors were inches away from taking the lead when Rio Ngumoha rattled the inside of the post.<\/p>\n

But momentum swung back decisively in Villa\u2019s favour when Szoboszlai slipped deep inside his own half to allow Rogers to cross for Watkins to tap in.<\/p>\n

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Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins celebrates scoring their side’s third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Aston Villa and Liverpool.<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wave upon wave of Villa attack then raged towards the Liverpool goal. Emi Buendia\u2019s curling effort then came back off the crossbar Liverpool failed to clear the resulting corner and Watkins pounced for his second goal despite a fine double save from Giorgi Mamardashvili to deny Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres.<\/p>\n

A sensational strike from captain John McGinn that found the top corner rounded off a night to remember for Villa as they are set for just a second season in Europe\u2019s top competition since 1982\/83.<\/p>\n

Van Dijk nodded in another consolation in stoppage time for Liverpool. But should Bournemouth shock Manchester City on Tuesday, Liverpool face the prospect of a nervy final day at home to Brentford to ensure they do not miss out on the Champions League.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa secured Champions League football with a 4-2 win over Liverpool on Friday that leaves the Reds still at risk of missing out on Europe\u2019s elite competition next season. Ollie Watkins struck twice as Villa boss Unai Emery was rewarded for naming a strong side just days before the Europa League final. \ufeffGet all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[8748,12716,1641,83,1736,1192,4939,71306,9817,85,4399,1429,149,1425,2011,12281,108,72876,981,72877,1626,1427,1728,2654,26286,854,3257,72875,15615,2450,72874,23773,2023,1252,1856,1337,1847],"class_list":{"0":"post-243615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-alexander-isak","9":"tag-alisson-becker","10":"tag-asia","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","13":"tag-champions-league","14":"tag-city-of-birmingham","15":"tag-disappointing-title-defence","16":"tag-elite-competition","17":"tag-england","18":"tag-europa-league","19":"tag-europe","20":"tag-football-news","21":"tag-getty-images-inc","22":"tag-istanbul","23":"tag-john-mcginn","24":"tag-liverpool","25":"tag-meltdown-leaves-door","26":"tag-mohamed-salah","27":"tag-nervy-final-day","28":"tag-new-south-wales","29":"tag-northern-europe","30":"tag-oceania","31":"tag-opening-goal","32":"tag-pau-torres","33":"tag-premier-league","34":"tag-shaun-botterill","35":"tag-shock-scenario","36":"tag-soccer-match","37":"tag-stoppage-time","38":"tag-string-side","39":"tag-stunning-collapse","40":"tag-turkey","41":"tag-unai-emery","42":"tag-united-kingdom","43":"tag-virgil-van-dijk","44":"tag-western-asia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}