Aston Villa vs Liverpool LIVE: Salah returns to bench for battle to secure Champions League place
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SportFootballAston Villa vs Liverpool LIVE: Salah returns to bench for battle to secure Champions League placeThe victor at Villa Park will book their spot in the top tier of European competition next season(Reuters)Ignore the doubters and criticism – Arne Slot is going nowhereArne Slot has been involved in the discussions about Liverpool's pre-season tour and the summer recruitment. But their inactivity has been an indication that Slot remains their choice and he said: “I have every reason to believe I am the Liverpool manager next season.” Richard Jolly15 May 2026 19:30A bad endingLiverpool haven’t won their final away league match in any of the last three seasons, with these games seeing 19 goals scored in total.Mike Jones15 May 2026 19:25Ending on a highAston Villa haven’t lost their final home league match in any of the six seasons since their return to the Premier League in 2019.Can Liverpool beat them tonight?
Mike Jones15 May 2026 19:20A leage double for Liverpool?Liverpool won the reverse fixture at Anfield 2-0 in November. They last did the league double over Aston Villa in 2021-22, while they last did so without conceding in 1995-96.Mike Jones15 May 2026 19:15Expect Liverpool to scoreLiverpool have scored at least twice in 10 of their last 11 Premier League away games against Aston Villa, including the last eight in a row.
Only Manchester City (11 at Fulham) and Manchester United (9 at West Brom) have had longer runs of scoring 2+ goals away at an opponent in the competition.Mike Jones15 May 2026 19:10No Isak for LiverpoolThere is also no Alexander Isak, who came back from injury to play for about 25 minutes last week, only to get injured again.”Richard Jolly at Anfield15 May 2026 19:08Emery has only beaten Liverpool onceUnai Emery has only beaten Liverpool once, but it was in a Europa League final. Florian Wirtz and Mohamed Salah are back on the bench, though the latter may only play a few minutes.”Richard Jolly at Anfield15 May 2026 19:06A record to forgetAston Villa have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games against Liverpool (three draws, 12 defeats).However that victory was a 7-2 home win in October 2020.Mike Jones15 May 2026 19:05Arne Slot has ‘every reason to believe’ he will not be sacked Arne Slot says he has every reason to believe he will be in charge of Liverpool again next season as he expressed his confidence he will not be sacked.The Dutchman is involved in discussions about Liverpool’s summer plans while his talks with the club’s hierarchy do not give him any concerns he will be dismissed, despite their disappointing campaign.Richard Jolly15 May 2026 19:00Slot on dropping points"We've also dropped points quite a lot in the last phase of a game, which maybe also has to do with the amount of games we have to play,” added Slot.“That's not different to any other team but it's been done by mainly the same players."So, that's also why I have so much respect for these players, that they are in a difficult season – physically and mentally – and they have constantly been available, and that's been mainly the same players."Mike Jones15 May 2026 18:54