Aston Villa at Liverpool and playing for something impressive

It's a big day and so many things can happen that it's almost impossible to predict, so I wont. I'll just share the necessary information, copy and paste from the BBC and let everything unfold as it is meant to unfold. 

I can't just leave it at that. It's such an important game because winning it keeps us in the race to finish above Spurs and Brighton and finishing above one of those two will mean we are playing European football next season. 

But it's very important to write also that while it would be nice to be playing in Europe next season, all of us would have been happy to finish top half this season had you asked us at the start of this season.

So, winning keeps us in the race but Brighton and Spurs could also lose. And it wont be easy because Liverpool are also playing for top four. I'm nervous. I'm going to bed.

Match facts from the BBC

Head-to-head

• Liverpool have won nine of the past 10 league meetings, with the exception being a 7-2 loss at Villa Park in October 2020.
• Aston Villa have lost on four successive Premier League visits to Anfield since a 1-0 win in September 2014.

Liverpool

• Liverpool's current run of seven straight Premier League victories is their longest since a 10-match streak between January and April last year.
• Their only defeat in the past 41 home league fixtures was by 2-1 against Leeds last October (W31, D9).
• The Reds have won their final home game in each of the past six seasons.
• They have won 14 of their 15 most recent league matches played in May, only dropping points in a 1-1 home draw versus Spurs last year.
• Liverpool need two goals to reach 100 in all competitions for the fifth time in six seasons.
• The Merseysiders have conceded 42 Premier League goals this season, equalling their worst defensive record in a full campaign under Jurgen Klopp.
• Mohamed Salah has scored in nine consecutive home games in all competitions, a record for a Liverpool player.

Aston Villa

• Aston Villa need one more win to equal the club Premier League record of 18 in a 38-match season, set in 1995-96 when they finished fourth.
• They are guaranteed a top-10 Premier League finish for the first time in 12 years.
• It's back-to-back away defeats for Villa, who have lost all four games on the road this season against the current top-five teams.
• They have won their last away league fixture in just two of the past 20 seasons, beating Spurs in 2021 and Arsenal in 2011.
• Unai Emery is averaging 1.96 points per game at Villa, the third-best rate of any manager to take charge of at least 10 matches in the Premier League this season. Pep Guardiola averages 2.41 and Mikel Arteta 2.31.
• Emery is winless in seven meetings with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in all competitions since beating them in the 2016 Europa League final with Sevilla (D2, L5).
• Ollie Watkins has failed to score in his past five appearances, following a run of 11 goals in 12. He has five Premier League goals versus Liverpool, more than against any other opponent.