Aston Villa can book their spot in next season's Champions League with victory this Monday night when they host Liverpool.
The Clarets, who were dumped out of the Europa Conference League by Olympiacos in midweek, can secure fourth spot if they can win at Villa Park. Tottenham's victory over Burnley on Saturday means that Spurs are still in the hunt for top four, but they remain four points off Aston Villa with two games to play.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are now officially out of the Premier League title race and can finish no lower than third this term. They have nothing but pride to play for in the Midlands, while they will want to give Jurgen Klopp the best send-off possible in his final away game in charge of the Reds.
The reverse fixture back in September finished 3-0 in favour of Liverpool, who are unbeaten against Villa in their previous seven meetings. However, their last Villa Park defeat was that 7-2 clash during the 2020/21 season.
The Aston Villa versus Liverpool kickoff will take place in Birmingham, England at Villa Park today night as Simon Hooper will be in charge of the refereeing as well as Chris Kavanagh.
Aston Villa have failed to win against Liverpool in their last five games where Liverpool has four wins with one draw respectively.
Let's take through their current form in all competitions for both Aston Villa and Liverpool respectively.
Olympiacos 2-0 Aston Villa - 09/05/24
Liverpool 4-2 Tottenham - 05/05/24
Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa - 05/05/24
West Ham 2-2 Liverpool - 27/04/24
Aston Villa 2-4 Olympiacos - 02/05/24
Everton 2-0 Liverpool - 24/04/24
Aston Villa 2-2 Chelsea - 27/04/24
Fulham 1-3 Liverpool - 21/04/24
Aston Villa 3-1 Bournemouth - 21/04/24
Atalanta 0-1 Liverpool - 18/04/24
Aston Villa predicted lineup (4-4-2): Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; Bailey, Iroegbunam, Luiz, McGinn; Diaby, Watkins.
Aston Villa's injury woes haven't helped them in the latter stages of what has been a remarkable campaign, but Unai Emery may welcome some of his stars back for Liverpool's visit. The Spanish coach has confirmed that Youri Tielemans and Alex Moreno may be available, while Nicolo Zaniolo could be fit enough to feature in some capacity.
However, the Midlands club are still without Emi Buendia, Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers.
Liverpool don't have too many injuries to concern themselves with but sharpshooter Diogo Jota is still unavailable after suffering an injury during the 3-1 win over Fulham on April 21.
Long-term absentees Joel Matip and Thiago are still sidelined but Klopp was handed a boost when young Stefan Bajcetic featured from the bench against Tottenham.
All eyes will be on Klopp during this game as the boss is a yellow card away from a suspension for his final game in charge of the club. Can he keep his cool for 90 minutes?
Liverpool predicted lineup (4-3-3): Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson; Elliott, Endo, Mac Allister; Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Liverpool showed just enough against Tottenham last weekend to worry Aston Villa, with the Midlands club looking absolutely shattered. The relaxed Reds could well take advantage as they aim to offer Klopp the best farewell possible.
Villa will be fighting with all their might to secure a top four spot, but their fatigued and injury-hit side may fall short.
