Aston Villa vs Liverpool: Prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds | OneFootball

The race to finish fourth heats up this week

Aston Villa and Liverpool kick-off the penultimate round of Premier League fixtures this week, 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.

Aston Villa vs Liverpool is scheduled for a 8pm BST kick-off on 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 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 could 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 should overcome the illness that kept him out last weekend.

Arne Slot will provide an update on the trio, as well as Alisson Becker and Wataru Endo, in his pre-match press conference but Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are all long-term injury casualties.

Doubt: 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.

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 to win: 9/5

Liverpool to win: 11/10

Draw: 11/5