Champions League qualification state of play after late Liverpool and Aston Villa heroics

Champions League qualification state of play after late Liverpool and Aston Villa heroicsLiverpool and Aston Villa both won in dramatic fashion on Sunday following Manchester United's dogged win over Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification from the Premier LeagueCommentsSportKieran Horn Digital Sports Journalist17:46, 19 Apr 2026View 2 ImagesAston Villa and Liverpool both picked up huge wins in the Premier League on Sunday(Image: Getty Images)Liverpool and Aston Villa have both taken massive stride towards securing their place in next season's Champions League after grabbing later winners. Virgil Van Dijk netted Liverpool's in the 100th minute against Everton in the Merseyside Derby while Tammy Abraham grabbed the deciding goal of a seven-goal thriller.‌Just five matches of the 2025/26 campaign remain on the calendar and to guarantee Champions League football for next term, Villa need just three points while Liverpool require nine The latter total may not even be necessary though, with Chelsea continuing to surrender points which has allowed Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton and Everton - despite their defeat to their neighbours - to narrow the deficit.‌It was a frantic opening period at the Hill Dickinson Stadium with a manic spell seeing an Iliman Ndiaye effort chalked off for offside before Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock following Cody Gakpo's incisive through ball. Beto grabbed an equaliser but Van Dijk nodded home deep into stoppage time which left Slot delighted after completing the double over Everton.‌READ MORE: Liverpool suffer huge injury blow as Giorgi Mamardashvili taken off on stretcherREAD MORE: Virgil van Dijk nets 100th-minute winner as Liverpool beat Everton - 5 talking pointsHe said: "We are going to enjoy. My staff, my players and me. There is no difference between us and the fans, we would have loved to have had a better season than we've had."But for obvious reasons we haven't, and we saw t...