EPL: Aston Villa Thrash Liverpool 4-2 to Seal Champions League Spot Return

Ollie Watkins celebrates goal

Unai Emery’s side won 4-2 at Villa Park to secure UCL football via the Premier League. Liverpool’s away woes continued despite goals from Van Dijk.

A 4-2 defeat at Villa Park means Liverpool have lost 9 away games this season. Villa now turn focus to the Europa League final in Istanbul...

Aston Villa hammered Liverpool 4-2 to clinch a Champions League place through the Premier League, while adding to the Reds’ miserable away form. The loss was Liverpool’s ninth on the road this season, meaning they’ve dropped nearly half their away games, though they’re still well placed to qualify for Europe’s top competition themselves.

Unai Emery raised a few eyebrows by starting a full-strength side only five days before Villa’s Europa League final against Freiburg. The decision nearly paid off immediately when Ollie Watkins combined with Morgan Rogers and fired a shot that Giorgi Mamardashvili did well to save.

Watkins had another chance moments later but slipped and landed awkwardly. Villa Park fell silent as he got back up slowly, relieved to see him continue.

The home fans had another scare when Liverpool thought they’d scored. Cody Gakpo tapped in after Emiliano Martinez spilled Ryan Gravenberch’s shot, but the offside flag went up straight away.

Liverpool started to take control as the half went on, but it was Villa who struck just before the break with a clever short corner. The Reds were caught out again by a set-piece, giving Rogers time to curl a finish into the corner.

Despite looking shaky defensively, Liverpool struck back from a set-piece to level early in the second half when Virgil van Dijk met a dangerous Dominik Szoboszlai delivery.

Rio Ngumoha nearly put the Reds ahead straight after, but his curling shot hit the post. Gakpo followed up, but couldn’t convert the rebound even though the offside flag stayed down.

The miss proved costly. A slip from Szoboszlai let Rogers play in Watkins, who finished calmly to make it 2-1.

Mamardashvili was soon called into action to deny Watkins a second, and Emiliano Buendia came even closer, smashing a shot off the underside of the crossbar.

A third Villa goal felt inevitable, and it arrived when Watkins tapped in after Mamardashvili had made two more saves.

The scoring wasn’t done yet. John McGinn sealed it with a curling stunner into the top corner, before Van Dijk grabbed a late consolation in stoppage time.

Liverpool are still set to clinch a Champions League spot if Manchester City beat Bournemouth on Tuesday. If not, they’ll have one last chance by beating Brentford on the final day.

Reaction to @AVFCOfficial qualifying for next season's Champions League 👇

— Premier League (@premierleague) May 15, 2026

For Villa, it was only their second win over Liverpool in 17 meetings. Now they can shift focus to Istanbul, where they’ll aim to end a 30-year wait for a trophy and win their first major European title this century.

Back in the Champions League 🤩@AVFCOfficial will join @Arsenal, @ManCity and @ManUtd, who have already qualified for the competition pic.twitter.com/bQkWQqoCsp

— Premier League (@premierleague) May 15, 2026