More Trouble For Slot As Liverpool Suffer B…

(Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

Liverpool endured a night to forget at Villa Park after suffering a 4-2 loss to Aston Villa in their penultimate game of the Premier League season.

Fixture: Aston Villa vs Liverpool
Score: 4-2
Goalscorers: Rogers (42), Watkins (57′, 73), McGinn (88′) / Van Dijk (52′, 92)

Both sides came into the clash level on 59 points, knowing the winner would secure a UEFA Champions League spot with one game to spare. However, Villa also had one eye on their upcoming UEFA Europa League final against Freiburg.

Reds coach Arne Slot was also booed by the fans after taking off teenager Rio Ngumoha in the second half last weekend, but the 17-year-old was once again named in the starting line-up alongside Cody Gakpo while Mohamed Salah returned to the bench.

With a European spot at stake, the first half proved to be quite a tight affair as neither side were able to carve out any clear-cut openings in the respective boxes, with Liverpool’s best efforts coming from shots from distance, none of which seriously troubled Emiliano Martinez.

That all changed in the final stages of the first stanza when Liverpool’s defence went to sleep, allowing an un-marked Morgan Rogers to pick up a pass from Lucas Digne in the box before curling one past goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

The late goal in the first half set up a lively second period, where the Reds came out firing and got the equaliser through Virgil van Dijk’s header in the opening seven minutes but they were pegged back minutes later when Ollie Watkins fired home after a big mistake in the Liverpool defence.

Liverpool’s struggles to defend set-pieces came back to haunt them in the second half when Villa grabbed a third goal, with the Reds defence failing to clear a corner which allowed Watkins to slot home from close range.

The night belonged to Unai Emery’s men with John McGinn putting the icing on the cake with a superb curling effort to make it 4-1, while Van Dijk completed his brace with a neat header in time added on, as Villa book their spot in the Champions League while questions will be asked about Slot’s future once again.

Key Performers:

Morgan Rogers remained a constant threat whenever he got on the ball in the final third, as he managed to pick up a goal and an assist on a good night for the Villains.

Ollie Watkins was up for it from the onset, as he gave Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate problems throughout the 90 minutes. The England international was also clinical and walked away with two goals.

Next Fixtures:

Aston Villa: Freiburg, Manchester City

Liverpool: Brentford

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