Ollie Watkins makes 'disjointed' Liverpool claim after brutally punishing Arne Slot's side
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Liverpool FC NewsFeaturesLiverpool FCAston Villa striker Ollie Watkins scored twice against Liverpool as Unai Emery's men confirmed their place in the Champions League next season by beating Arne Slot's sideOllie Watkins celebrates scoring against Liverpool.(Image: Darren Staples / AFP via Getty Images)Ollie Watkins was able to take full advantage of a "disjointed" Liverpool defense at Villa Park on Friday as Unai Emery's men secured a place in next season's Champions League.Liverpool will have to wait another week — until the final game of the season — to ensure that it finishes inside the top five spots. It finishes the campaign with a game at Anfield against Brentford still in need of three points to make certain Brighton and Bournemouth cannot catch up.While Virgil van Dijk netted a brace, Liverpool was unable to take control of the game and was generally blunted in attack, aside from a few positive moments from Rio Ngumoha.READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings, winners and losers as Rio Ngumoha lively but two really struggleREAD MORE: Arne Slot transfer need glaring as Liverpool one step closer to reset - 4 talking pointsWatkins and Morgan Rogers caused all sort sof problems and warmed up nicely for their Europa League final clash against Freiburg next week in Istanbul."Liverpool play a high line and don't play offside so they're disjointed at the back," Watkins said on Sky Sports after Aston Villa's win."I feel like there's a lot of space for me to run into.
It sums up our year, with it being in our hands and errors that are avoidable at pivotal points in the game where we could have got momentum.Get LFC's 2025/26 season home and away kitsThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. We’ve just got to do the job next week now."It felt we had control.
Something that’s highlighted, we know: they’re great at set-pieces. We know what we have to do next weekend and we have to beat Brentford at home."Choose Liverpool.com as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Liverpool FCAston Villa FCPremier League