OLLIE WATKINS gave England boss Thomas Tuchel a timely reminder of his talent as he fired Aston Villa to the Champions League.
Watkins struck twice during a breathless second half last night as Villa beat Liverpool 4-2 to move up to fourth in the Premier League.
Ollie Watkins was in irrepressible form at Villa Park Credit: Getty
Morgan Rogers curled Aston Villa in front early on Credit: Alamy
The win secures them Champions League football for next season and was the perfect prep for the Europa League final on Wednesday.
Watkins will be dreaming of firing Villa to glory against Freiburg – and he will surely be heading off to the World Cup after that.
Tuchel is due to name his squad on Friday and it is hard to see how he overlooks the Villa striker, who now has 10 goals in his last 11 games.
When Watkins is in this form, there is little defenders can do and his dramatic winner in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 against Holland showed how he can handle the pressure of a major tournament.
Watkins’ strikes here came after a drab first half, which was only punctured by Morgan Rogers opening the scoring.
Virgil van Dijk found the net at the start and end of a crazy second half, but in between that Watkins struck twice and John McGinn curled one home.
Villa now head to Istanbul in high spirits – a place that holds such fond memories for Liverpool – but Slot is down in the dumps.
The Reds are now in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification as Bournemouth in sixth are four points off them – with a game in hand.
That would be a disastrous end to the season for Liverpool, who were blown away by Villa in the second half.
Even with the Europa League final looming large on the horizon, it was a strong team that Unai Emery went for.
In their previous home Prem game, Emery made sweeping changes and paid the price as they lost 2-1 to Tottenham.
This time, the Spaniard opted for just three tweaks to the side that drew at Burnley last weekend.
And perhaps that is what led to the hosts having such a bright start.
Watkins twice went close inside the opening 10 minutes and the only time Villa’s momentum dropped was when he went down holding his back.
The striker appeared to jar it when shooting and Emery stood on the sideline wincing, no doubt Wednesday on his mind.
Everyone in Villa Park held their breath – and the relief was clear when Watkins was fit enough to carry on.
Liverpool grew into the opening 45 minutes and thought they had taken the lead when Emi Martinez spilled Ryan Gravenberch’s shot just before the half-hour mark.
Cody Gakpo was on hand to tap the ball home, but the flag went up and he was clearly offside.
Beyond that moment, Liverpool did not carry a threat and it was left to Rogers to bring a flat game to life.
In the season of set-pieces, it was a well-worked corner that gave the midfielder room inside the box.
Rogers’ curling effort left Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili with no chance and he celebrated on the touchline with Villa set-piece coach Austin MacPhee.
The visitors needed to respond after the break and, within seven minutes, they had.
For the second time in the game, a set-piece was the solution as Van Dijk headed home from Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick.
Villa protested as Matty Cash complained the Liverpool captain had pushed him, but the goal survived a VAR check.
The goal ignited both sides and moments later Watkins had the ball in the net after carrying the ball from the halfway line and rounding Mamardashvili.
The offside flag saved Liverpool – and at the other end the post came to Villa’s rescue as Rio Ngumoha hit the woodwork.
It was brilliant and bonkers – a far cry from the drab first half – and Watkins rounded off a crazy five minutes by putting Villa ahead.
Szoboszlai slipped from a throw-in and it allowed Rogers to race through and tee up his team-mate to coolly finish.
Villa were suddenly rampant and the home crowd alive.
Watkins added a third by poking home from a scramble in the box after a ball cleared from a corner was hooked back in.
It was a scruffy effort, but McGinn ensured the match finished in style with a lovely curling effort in the 89th minute.
Even after that, there was still time for more madness as Van Dijk headed home Szoboszlai’s cross in injury time. By that point, though, many Liverpool fans were already on their way home.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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