Aston Villa vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League team news, line-ups and more tonight

As well as a dramatic title race, the Premier League is heading for a frantic late scramble to decide the final European places this season – with several spots still up for grabs as we enter the final week of the campaign.

Aston Villa are in the driving seat to secure the fourth Champions League place, in what would be a stunning achievement for Unai Emery’s side. But Tottenham Hotspur are still mathematically in with a shout, even if a poor run of form for Ange Postecoglou’s side has Spurs looking over their shoulders as well.

Manchester United, meanwhile, have suddenly dropped out of the race for sixth, as both Newcastle United and Chelsea enjoy resurgent ends to difficult campaigns. So, with a week of the season to go, here’s how the battle for the final European places is shaping up.

Eight and a half years after Jurgen Klopp’s reign began against Tottenham, five years after it peaked in a Champions League final against them, Spurs may prove a final example of what made it great and why Anfield will mourn the German.

An action-packed affair – like many a game this season, some of the drama stemmed from Liverpool’s defensive frailties – contained irrepressible pressing, irresistible attacking football, a goal and two assists from a rampant and recalled Mohamed Salah: Liverpool’s only regret could be that it came now and not a few weeks earlier. If it was too late for the title race, it was too good for Tottenham.

Klopp probably didn’t borrow one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s more infamous team talks – “lads, it’s Tottenham” – but he could have done.

But Van Dijk insists he is happy at the club as they move into the new era which will be under his compatriot Arne Slot, the Feyenoord head coach with whom Liverpool have agreed a deal as well as compensation with the Eredivisie side.

Yet that goodbye may now be in danger as he faces the threat of a touchline ban ahead of the Reds’s season finale against Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

In the closing minutes of Liverpool’s win over Tottenham on Sunday, many at Anfield were singing a Nottingham Forest substitute’s name. Not, admittedly, because he is a Nottingham Forest substitute. But if mentions of Divock Origi were a reminder the Belgian scored Liverpool’s second goal in the 2019 Champions League final against Spurs, it was, at most, only his second finest night at the club.

Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the best, the game that encapsulated everything that was superb about Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Barcelona – and the details are sufficiently well known that one word can suffice as an explanation – brought fearless, ferocious attacking football in an intense atmosphere, Liverpool’s capacity for comebacks shown by their most sensational. Klopp, the manager who pledged at his unveiling to turn doubters into believers, had Anfield believing in the impossible until it became possible and then actual. A coach who declared his aim was not to be the best team in the world but to beat the best may have achieved the former by doing the latter.

Following Sunday’s 4-2 win over Tottenham, the Uruguay international, who missed a relatively-simple one-on-one with goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after coming on as a substitute, deleted all pictures of him playing for Liverpool from his Instagram account.

That led to increased conjecture about the 24-year-old, who has enjoyed a mixed couple of seasons since joining from Benfica for a potential club-record £85million transfer fee.

But Klopp believes the forward’s goals – he has 33 in 94 appearances – and assists do not give a fully-rounded picture of his contribution.

Pep Guardiola has told Manchester City there is no room for error at Tottenham as he believes their hopes of a fourth successive title will be over if they drop points.

After cruising to victory over Fulham last weekend, there is a scenario where City could draw in London and claim the title on goal difference if they thrash West Ham on Sunday and another where Arsenal drop points against Everton.

But Guardiola, who has never won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League, feels anything other than a victory could come at a huge cost.

City have won their last seven league games and Guardiola compared it to previous run-ins where his side finished with winning runs.

“It’s obvious,” Guardiola said. “We have just one option: win the game. We travel for that. I felt from what happened in the past with the way we were playing against Liverpool [for the title] I said either we win, win, win or it will be over.”

Tonight’s game is on Sky Sports Main Event – if you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.

If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s Premier League action as Aston Villa take on Liverpool.

The hosts will hope to cap off a spectacular season with a victory over the Reds which would secure them a spot in the Champions League next year.

They come into the game fourth in the league with a four-point buffer over Tottenham. Three points this evening woulc give them an unassailable lead and ensure Unai Emery’s men are playing in the European top-flight in 2024/25.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are out of the title race and are just focusing on ending the season on a high. Boss Jurgen Klopp is leaving at the conclusion of this season and the team will be hoping to send him off with two wins from their last two league games.

We’ll have all the updates, team news and line-ups throughout the afternoon to stick with us as we build up to kick off at 8pm.