Aston Villa 4-2 Liverpool: Rogers 42, Watkins 57, 73, McGinn 89; Van Dijk 52, 90+2
Aston Villa secured Champions League qualification with a statement victory over Liverpool, beating the Premier League champions 4-2 at Villa Park to deepen the questions surrounding Arne Slot’s faltering side.
With a Europa League final against Freiburg looming on Wednesday, Villa could have been forgiven for having one eye on Istanbul. Instead, they fielded their main XI and delivered an excellent performance, led by a clinical Ollie Watkins at the double and Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, who scored a goal each.
Liverpool, meanwhile, looked every bit a side limping towards the finish line. Virgil van Dijk scored twice to keep the visitors in contention, but another disjointed display left supporters shaking their heads at the thought of Slot, who said this week he expects to be at the club beyond the summer, leading the side next season.
Liverpool could argue that they were missing up to five senior players, including Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong. Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah started on the bench and were introduced in the second half. In their absence, Cody Gakpo led the line, teenager Rio Ngumoha played on the left side and Curtis Jones started on the right side of attack.
Villa threatened first. Watkins spun sharply inside the opening minutes and forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into an early save, while Rogers repeatedly found pockets of space between Liverpool’s midfield and defence.
Liverpool briefly thought they had taken the lead when Gakpo converted after Emiliano Martinez spilled Ryan Gravenberch’s effort, only for the offside flag to cut celebrations short. But then the breakthrough arrived at the other end, three minutes before half-time. Villa worked a clever short-corner routine where John McGinn and Lucas Digne combined before passing to Rogers, who curled a superb shot into the far corner.
Liverpool tried to hit back after the break. Ngumoha surged past Matty Cash before teeing up Jones for a chance but Pau Torres was on hand to block. Moments later, Van Dijk nodded in Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, surviving a VAR review after Cash went down under slight contact inside the area.
The equaliser briefly shifted momentum and Ngumoha struck the post with a fierce low effort, before Gakpo failed to capitalise on the rebound as Liverpool threatened to turn the game around. But then Szoboszlai’s slip after receiving a throw-in allowed Rogers to feed Watkins. The striker steadied himself and finished smartly beyond Mamardashvili.
Villa smelled blood and kept attacking. Emiliano Buendia struck the crossbar with a curling effort before Watkins added his second, reacting quickest after Mamardashvili parried Pau Torres’ initial attempt from another Villa set-piece. McGinn added a fourth from the edge of the box to cap off a perfect evening for Emery’s side. Van Dijk’s late header only served to leave the scoreline respectable.
