Aston Villa secured a convincing 4-2 victory over Liverpool at Villa Park on Friday night, officially booking their place in next season's Champions League. Striker Ollie Watkins delivered an impressive performance with a brace.
The win lifts Villa to fourth place with 62 points from 37 games, leapfrogging Liverpool (59 points). Liverpool, meanwhile, continued their worrying run, taking just one point from their last three games and suffering 12 defeats this season.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring for Villa in the first half. Virgil van Dijk equalised for Liverpool early in the second half, but Watkins quickly restored the home side's lead. John McGinn sealed the win with a fourth goal in the 89th minute, before Van Dijk added a consolation goal in stoppage time.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said his team had achieved one of their biggest objectives of the season. Villa face Freiburg in the Europa League final on Wednesday, buoyed by this result.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted his side had conceded too many sloppy goals. "Villa played better and the game slipped away from us. We need to focus on our match against Brentford next weekend and regain the supporters' trust."
