At A Glance
Aston Villa’s final home game of the season sees Liverpool visit Villa Park for Monday Night Football.
The home side know victory against the Reds will secure a top four finish and Champions League football next term, putting them out of Tottenham Hotspur’s reach.
Villa are also one win away from equalling the club’s Premier League records of 21 wins and 13 home victories in a season, both set in 1992-93.
This is the penultimate stop and final away day of Jürgen Klopp’s tenure as Liverpool manager.
The German will step down at the end of the season after delivering a number of major trophies over the course of his nine-year reign.
The Reds are 11 points clear of Villa and are guaranteed a third place finish in the top flight.
Standout Stats
Liverpool have won on eight of their last nine top-flight visits to Villa Park; the exception was a Premier League club record 7-2 defeat in October 2020.
This is Aston Villa's 100th home game against Liverpool in all competitions (W40, D21, L38).
Liverpool are the only opponents Unai Emery has faced as a manager in the Premier League without ever winning (D2, L4). He is winless in nine competitive matches against Jürgen Klopp since the Spaniard’s Sevilla side beat Liverpool 3-1 in the 2016 Europa League final.
Villa are vying to finish in the top four of the Premier League for only the third time, and first since 1995-96.
Liverpool’s two wins in their seven league matches this season against the rest of the current top five were both at home, including against Villa.
The Reds have only once lost their final Premier League away fixture in eight seasons under Jürgen Klopp, a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea in 2018 (W5, D2).
Villa’s tally of 73 top-flight goals this season is their highest since 1976-77, when they scored 76 and finished fourth.
Liverpool can go 10 successive league games without a clean sheet for the first time since a run of 11 in 1998 under Roy Evans.
Ollie Watkins needs one league goal to become the first Villa player to score 20 in a top-flight season since Peter Withe in 1980-81.
Mohamed Salah has scored seven goals in nine starts against Aston Villa in all competitions.
The Last Meeting
Aston Villa’s four-game winning run was abruptly ended against Liverpool in the Premier League at Anfield in September.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired the home side ahead after three minutes and the unfortunate Matty Cash scored an own goal when Darwin Núñez’s shot rebounded into his path with 22 minutes played.
The full-back saw a close-range header sensationally saved by Allison at the start of the second half before Mohamed Salah headed home a third for the Reds.
Team News
Unai Emery is taking it day-by-day as he monitors the fitness of several players with small injuries, including Nicolo Zaniolo, Youri Tielemans and Alex Moreno.
Morgan Rogers missed out against Olympiacos last time out, and Villa remain without long-term absentees Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara and Jacob Ramsey.
Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara remain sidelined for the visitors, who are hoping Diogo Jota is close to a return.
The Boss
“We’re fighting in the Premier League for an amazing, amazing objective we have. Firstly, we’re in the Europa League next year and we are improving this year. Secondly, we have the opportunity to get into the Champions League. It’s going to be very difficult and we need the supporters. We need to change our mentality quickly, focusing on the match on Monday against Liverpool.”
Unai Emery
