Thanks to a double from Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa were able to scale through Liverpool in the Premier League 2025/26 match 4-2 on Friday 15 May, 2026 at Villa Park.
Tfhe result means Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have secured their spot in the Uefa Champions League 2026/27.
Watkins’ brace sealed a performance for the Villans, who can head into the Uefa Europa League final on Wednesday with next season’s Uefa Champions League in the cart.
Lucas Digne provided for Morgan Rogers, who opened the scoring for Aston Villa in the 42nd minute. The first half finished with the home side 1-0 in front.
After the break, in the 52nd minute, Dutch centre-back, Virgil Van Dijk, converted Dominik Szoboszlai’s assist to level for the visitors, but, the hosts got angry and fired three (3) times against the Reds to make the score line 4-1.
The Netherlands defender headed home Szoboszlai’s free-kick that wriggled through a VAR check after Van Dijk and Matty Cash came together in the build-up.
Watkins netted Villa’s second with an assist from Rogers in the 57th minute; the England forward added his second and third for the hosts in the 73rd minute before John McGinn found the fourth late, in the 89th minute, with Watkins’ assist.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool struggled and eventually netted their second of the contest when Szoboszlai once again provided for Van Dijk, who netted in the 2nd minute of additional time.
Former Liverpool player and football analyst, Jamie Carragher, fumed: “Liverpool don’t excel at anything. They look like a really, really average team. The only time Liverpool have looked a threat is through set pieces.”
In his post-defeat comments to BBC MOTD, Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, said: “After 2-1 it went away from us. Before that I think we started well in the first 10 minutes of the second half then we had control of the game without creating chances – but that is not the first time this season.
“We have conceded a lot of goals this season which you’d find hard to believe unless you live it and that’s what we did today. Villa were the better team after that and the game went away from us.”
Photo: Ollie Watkins celebrates goal for Aston Villa | Getty Images
