Aston Villa and Liverpool kick-off the penultimate round of Premier League fixtures tonight, with Champions League qualification at stake.
The two teams sit fourth and fifth respectively in the table, locked on the same number of points, with Liverpool ahead of Villa by virtue of a superior goal difference.
Catching Manchester United in third is still mathematically possible for both sides, though the target here will be victory to seal a top-five finish with a game to spare.
A draw will be enough for Liverpool and Villa to qualify for the Champions League – but that will not be confirmed until next Tuesday at the earliest as that is when sixth-placed Bournemouth face Manchester City.
Of course, Villa have two avenues for a return to Europe’s top table and this fixture falls five days before their Europa League final against Freiburg.
Date, kick-off time and venue
Aston Villa vs Liverpool is scheduled for a 8pm BST kick-off today, Friday, May 15, 2026.
The match will take place at Villa Park.
Where to watch Aston Villa vs Liverpool
TV channel: In the UK, the game will be televised live on Sky Sports. Coverage starts at 7pm BST on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app.
Live blog: You can follow all the action on matchday via Standard Sport’s live blog.
Aston Villa vs Liverpool team news
Unai Emery has somewhat of a selection dilemma on his hands as last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Burnley means there is still work to do to seal a top-five Premier League finish.
The Villa boss rotated heavily against Tottenham recently and that backfired, though the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-final second leg certainly got fans back on side.
Boubacar Kamara, Alysson and Amadou Onana will not feature because of injury, and Harvey Elliott cannot feature regardless against his parent club due to the rules of his loan agreement.
As for Liverpool, Mohamed Salah is set to return after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury sustained in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at the end of April.
Ibrahima Konate is expected to be fit despite limping off in the second half of the draw with Chelsea, while Florian Wirtz is touch and go as to whether he overcomes the illness that kept him out last weekend.
Arne Slot also said that first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker has returned to training after a lengthy lay-off in a big boost to the Reds.
Back: Mohamed Salah (PA)
Aston Villa vs Liverpool prediction
Unai Emery will surely have one eye on the Europa League final, despite Villa being one win away from guaranteeing Champions League football.
A rotated team selection should play into the hands of Liverpool, who though have struggled for consistency all season, will be too strong for a weakened Villa side.
Liverpool to win, 3-1.
Head to head (h2h) history and results
Liverpool are unbeaten against Aston Villa since that infamous 7-2 drubbing at the start of the 2020-21 season. The last two meetings between the sides at Villa Park have finished all square, with ten goals scored.
Aston Villa wins: 59
Liverpool wins: 104
Draws: 43
Aston Villa vs Liverpool match odds
Aston Villa to win: 13/8
Liverpool to win: 13/10
Draw: 21/10
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
