Aston Villa welcome Liverpool to Villa Park on Monday night to kickstart an emotional week for two very different reasons.
For the home side, one final push is needed, and specifically one more win to seal Champions League football for next season at Tottenham Hotspur’s expense.
And for Liverpool, so begins the final week of the Jurgen Klopp era, the German taking his side on the road for one last time.
Klopp had hoped his farewell would come in Europe, but instead it is Liverpool’s conquerors Atalanta taking on Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen next Wednesday in the Europa League final.
The final game away from Anfield for Klopp therefore falls at Villa Park, where he enjoyed an immense high in 2019 – the 2-1 comeback victory keeping the momentum going in their title-winning season – before enduring his lowest low a year later, the 7-2 defeat the first time Liverpool had shipped seven goals for 57 years.
“It was a really special game when we won 2-1,” Klopp said. “At half-time we had a little situation in the dressing room and then we could calm it down and then we turned the game around, which was really, really, really special.
“That’s when you go for absolutely everything, when everything is on the edge and these kinds of things can happen as long as you settle as quick as possible… a little argument between two players, but you will not get the names from me. It was no problem, it was just the situation.”
This time around there is little for Liverpool to play for. The title is now mathematically out of reach, and while Klopp’s desire is to surpass 80 points – “you never should take things like this for granted” – in reality that is a futile objective compared to what they had been hoping for even just a couple of weeks ago.
Nevertheless, they are strong finishers, losing just one of their last 26 Premier League games in May (W19 D6), having not lost in the league in this month since 2018.
What mood Liverpool are in could therefore dictate Villa’s own prospects against a side they have beaten just once – that 7-2 in October 2020 – in their past 12 Premier League meetings.
Ollie Watkins scored a hat-trick in that anomaly of a game behind closed doors four years ago, and this season he is one goal away from 20 in the league – a feat that would make him the first Villa player since Peter Withe in 1980-81 to score 20-plus in a top-flight campaign.
That would be some feat and some indication of how vital Watkins has been for Villa this term. The England international is also top of the Premier League assist charts with 12, making for a league-high 31 goal contributions overall, and earning him a place on the eight-man shortlist for the Premier League player of the season award.
Watkins would be a worthy winner for some, given he has defied expectations, and the same could be said for Unai Emery, one of five bosses up for that Premier League manager’s award.
Klopp has a strong record against Emery, winning seven of their 10 meetings (D2 L1), but was nevertheless was full of praise for the Spaniard after suggesting Arsenal were hasty in letting him go back in November 2019.
“Unai Emery is one of the best we have in the business, 100 per cent,” Klopp added. “Wherever he was he had success. Sometimes clubs were not ready to wait for it, maybe, if you look back probably these clubs would have made different decisions.
“I have known him for so long, I think when I met him first time he was managing in Moscow, it was in Russia I’m pretty sure at that time. That’s really long ago and he always had a clear idea. Then he won plenty of times with Sevilla.
“It was really tricky for us when we faced him with Villarreal. He always organised a team extremely, extremely well. The job he is doing is absolutely exceptional.
“We all know how important it is for a club to qualify for the Champions League, how difficult it is to do that. And that he probably, very likely will do that, yeah, is absolutely exceptional. No other words for it.”
Emery would be flattered but is not one to blow his own trumpet. The Villa boss has continuously talked about the “process”, eager to stress Villa have made huge strides whether they finish fourth or not.
But now that goal is in sight, just one result away from becoming a reality, Emery faces the difficult talk of lifting his players from the disappointment of their Europa Conference League semi-final exit to Olympiakos last week.
“We are motivated and excited,” Emery said. “Of course, we have to be frustrated but not a lot because only one team can win [the Europa Conference League]. If we are frustrated a lot, it doesn’t make sense.
“My message is clear: move on. We have to try to finish doing an amazing, amazing season if we are getting the objective in front. Even if we are without [fourth], we are in Europe next year in the Europa League.”
Emery will certainly want to complete what would be a remarkable achievement before the final round of fixtures on Sunday, when Villa travel to in-form Crystal Palace and Spurs head to Sheffield United.
With the blunt Blades arguably the easiest away match Spurs could ask for, Villa would rather not go chasing victory at Palace, who are unbeaten in their last six games.
Should Villa lose to Liverpool, to avoid a final-day scrap for fourth they will need Manchester City to beat Spurs on Tuesday.
That is entirely possible given Pep Guardiola’s side look in the mood to make history as the first side to win four straight top-tier English titles, but despite winning at Spurs in the FA Cup in January, City are yet to win a league fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
For City and Villa, the hope will be that the 1-0 cup win earlier this year has lifted that curse once and for all. Some Spurs fans are hoping the same, too, with missing out on Champions League football deemed a fair sacrifice to prevent Arsenal from winning the league. It’s a funny old game.
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