Diaz in loads of space down the left, it’s 2 v 1, he plays a ball off the outside of his right boot to Salah but it’s a little heavy. Salah’s attempt is blocked.

Diaby, who looks like he’s playing a more advanced role than Watkins at this stage, is played through once more, he takes a nice first touch to take it away from Gomez then fails in his attempted back heel to Watkins who would have been in a great position if the ball had reached him

Diego Carlos just indulged in what is affectionately known at Villa Park as ‘doing a Ronnie Rosenthal’.

Trent decides to go for it from range, it just flies wide and right. Seconds later Diaby is played through on goal but his effort is ballooned over

.

Elliott booked for delaying the restart. Villa attack again, Diaby played in but his cross is blocked in the box. Villa looking the more likely right now.

McGinn’s in-swinging free kick is cleared by Liverpool but falls out to Watkins, the striker play through Bailey who fizzes it past Alisson. Diego Carlos only needs the slightest of touches to put it over the line put he makes a meal of it. What a miss!

McGinn has his effort from the edge of the area blocked after taking too long to pull the trigger. Villa, again, picking themselves up after the second Liverpool strike, putting some nice passages of play together.

Liverpool’s defence looks ragged every time Watkins breaks into a sprint. Villa’s likewise when Liverpool have decent possession. Expect more goals.

McAllister’’s first time pass goes to the feet of Gakpo, the Dutchman lays it off to Salah who plays a beautiful cross-field pass to Diaz. Diaz tips it to Gomez on the overlap whose low cross finds Gakpo again to tap in for Liverpool’s second. A lovely Liverpool move ends in a finish but it goes to Var. After some time Simon Hooper eventually gives the goal.

Bailey plays a lovely ball through to Watkins but his pace and power is a matched by Van Dijk and the defender blocks his effort. Moments later, Diaby slides the ball to Bailey a few yards from goal, he turns and shoots but the shot is blocked again.

Villa looking much more up for it now, as are the crowd. It looked for a moment there like we might be looking at an exhibition from the visitors. What a difference a goal makes.

Watkins dances past Trent Alexander-Arnold out wide, dashes for the end line and plays the ball to Tielemans around the penalty spot with space and time. He does as expected, placing it into the bottom left corner past a rooted Alisson. 1-1.

Yet again too easy for Liverpool. Salah chips the ball to Diaz with acres of space but her fluffs the effort. Gakpo follows up but hits the post. It’s offside anyway.

Diaby beats Gomez on the right and crosses to Bailey inside the area, but his shot hits his standing foot and goes wide. Villa have steadied the ship a little since that shakey opening five.

Fair play to the Villa fans. After the initial stunned silence following the howler there was a stirring rendition of Emi Martinez being the world’s number 1. Judging by Liverpool’s start he will have plenty of chances to make amends.

Salah glides past Digne like he’s not even there, hits a shot from insid ethe box off his favoured left but a deflection takes it just wide. From the corner Elliott finds McAllister who dinks the ball into the area, it finds Gakpo who heads over.

A calamitous start to proceedings for Villa. Elliott’s cross takes an ever-so-slight deflection off Pau Torres and finds the hands of Martinez but the keeper makes a horrendous mistake, letting the ball slip from his grasp and subsequently punching into his own net.

And we’re away!

Celebrity Villa fan Tom Hanks has just given a pitchside interview bemoaning the lack of coverage of his side in the United States. One suspects there will be plenty of references to the Hollywood superstar’s movies during the TV commentary this evening (and tomorrow’s match reports)…

Let’s make a pre-emptive strike using our best Peter Drury impression.

“Will it be a case of ‘Catch Me if You Can’ from Unai Emery to Ange Postecoglou in the race for the Champions League?”

“Can Villa ensure Spurs’ top four hopes are Cast Away?”

“Are Villa ready to make a Splash at Europe’s top table?”

Klopp will need to be careful on the sideline tonight. One booking for him and he will potentially spoil an emotional farewell at Anfield on the final day of the season. With Simon Hooper as tonight’s referee, the Liverpool manager feels he may need to be extra careful.

This could go one of two ways for Liverpool. With a demob happy manager and a team guaranteed to finish third, the release of pressure could lead to some care-free, full throttle Klopp football.

Alternatively, there could be a few players treating tonight as a warm-up to this summer’s Euros. With so little at stake, how much would Liverpool be up for a fight if Villa make it a feisty game?

If the home side do not look like they want victory more from the first whistle, it would be inexcusable.

After missing out on the last two games for Aston Villa due to a groin injury, Belgian Youri Tielemans returns to the starting line up. Could he play a big part in the host’s push for Europe tonight?

Jason Burt’s photo of the Forrest Gump star from the press box at Villa Park.

A win tonight for Villa will mean they will play Champions League football for the first time since the 1982-83 season where they reached the quarter finals. The season before they actually won the competition, beating Bayern Munich in the final thanks to a Peter Withe finish.

It’s been a momentous, record-breaking season for Aston Villa, achieving their most points and wins in a season since the 1992-93 season.

John McGinn has urged injury ravaged Aston Villa to “find the fire” and finally secure Champions League qualification.

Ahead of their 55th game of a tiring season, Villa face Liverpool tonight with the incentive of guaranteeing a top-four finish with a win.

Villa’s dreams of reaching a European final were ended by Olympiacos last week and Unai Emery’s squad are being pushed to the limit by a deepening injury list.

Tyrone Mings, Emiliano Buendía, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers are all ruled out of Villa’s final home game of the season. Youri Tielemans, Nicolo Zaniolo and Alex Moreno could return but winger Leon Bailey is the latest doubt.

Yet McGinn is demanding one final push from his team to sign off a memorable season on a high.

“It has been a long hard season and certainly one to be proud of but we don’t want to stop short,” he said. “We know what we have to do and we’re so close. It is in our hands and we owe ourselves a performance after the effort throughout the season, the graft every single day coming in.

“We want to get the job done ourselves and get into the top four, which would be an unbelievable achievement, though it won’t take the disappointment away from Thursday night.

“The fans have been there the past few weeks and it is up to us to deliver now. You can wave as many scarves as you want, shout our names as loud as you want, but it is up to us to find that fire and get us over the line.”

Tottenham’s win over Luton on Saturday leaves them four points behind Villa with two games left to play.

Villa have picked up two wins from their last six Premier League matches and produced a jaded, lethargic performance in the semi-final second leg against Olympiacos last Thursday.

McGinn has admitted they should have already booked their place in next season’s Champions League.

“That is the frustrating thing, we could have had it wrapped up before now,” he said. “There has been a determination for five or six weeks, but the Premier League is extremely difficult.

“We have certainly had some setbacks along the way but this group will keep fighting.”

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