Aston Villa v Liverpool: Prediction, team news, line-ups and odds | OneFootball

Both these sides look set to qualify for next season’s Champions League and the good news for fifth-placed Aston Villa is that they have two chances. If Unai Emery’s side drop out of the top five, they can still secure a spot by winning their Europa League final against Freiburg on May 20.

Liverpool are rather limping over the line in terms of guaranteeing a Champions League spot and they missed the chance to nail it when being held 1-1 by an out-of-form Chelsea at Anfield last weekend.

The winner of this Friday night clash definitely bags their place but the loser here may just start to feel a little twitchy about the prospect of still needing something on the final day. Those closing fixtures see Liverpool host Brentford while Villa travel to Manchester City.

Aston Villa v Liverpool kick-off time

Aston Villa v Liverpool kicks off at 8pm BST on Friday, May 15 at Villa Park.

Aston Villa v Liverpool how to watch

The game will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event. Coverage begins at 7pm.

TalkSPORT will provide live radio coverage.

Aston Villa team news

Belgian midfielder Amadou Onana has again been ruled out of this one due to a calf injury.

Boubacar Kamara and Alysson are the only other players missing so it’s more a case of Emery deciding how best to juggle his squad with that big European final on the horizon.

Liverpool team news

After limping off against Crystal Palace and missing the last two matches, Mo Salah will be back in the matchday squad but looks set to start on the bench.

Alexander Isak could return to the starting XI after coming on as a sub against Chelsea while Florian Wirtz, Ibrahima Konate and goalkeeper Alisson will all be assessed nearer kick-off.

Hugo Ekitike is a long-term absentee, as are defenders Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni.

Aston Villa v Liverpool odds

Liverpool are slight 7/5 favourites to get the win that wraps up a top-five finish and secures Champions League football.

Aston Villa are 7/4 to achieve the same feat while The Draw is 23/10.

Aston Villa v Liverpool prediction

Villa have been Jekyll and Hyde in their last two home games and it was pretty obvious why.

With their European Cup semi-final, second leg taking place a few days later, a clearly distracted Villa rolled over easily and lost 3-0 to relegation-threatened Tottenham.

But in that semi-final against Nottingham Forest, with the atmosphere ramped up, the Villans were superb and powered to a 4-0 win.

With their Europa League final just five days away, it’s fair to think that Emery’s side could be there for the taking again.

The problem is Liverpool are in poor form. They’ve lost eight away games in the Premier League this season and that’s two more than Tottenham.

The Reds have a strong record against Villa (12 wins in the last 16 meetings) but their current lacklustre displays suggest they won’t be able to fully cash in on a home side with one eye on Europe.

Almost by default, the draw looks best. Back it at 23/10 and, more specifically, try 1-1 at 13/2.