Our 3️⃣ points as Aston Villa and Liverpool produce late-season thriller | OneFootball

Aston Villa’s Champions League qualification bid was boosted by a breathless six-goal thriller with Liverpool.

Here’s what we made of events at Villa Park.

Pure box office in B6

Tom Hanks certainly picked the right evening to pay an overdue visit to his beloved Aston Villa.

The Hollywood legend was in the stands at Villa Park and rewarded with a real box-office encounter which bordered on bedlam.

Emiliano Martínez’s fumbling in Liverpool’s opener after just two minutes set the tone for what proved to be a chaotic evening in B6.

Fortunately for Hanks, his side’s Champions League bid is still on course after a late double from Jhon Durán salvaged a point for the Villans.

This game delivered so many thrills and spills that even his most esteemed colleagues in Tinseltown would struggle to dream it up.

Klopp’s farewell tour falls flat

Liverpool’s capitulation at Villa Park was merely the latest disappointment of Jürgen Klopp’s farewell tour.

Long out of the title race and comfortably qualified for Europe’s elite, the visitors arguably had little more than pride to play for.

Initially, plans to give their outgoing manager a fitting send-off in his final away game went to script with a 3-1 advantage.

But the Reds have been guilty of lettings games slip far too easily from winning positions in recent weeks and did so again.

Klopp cited a lack of energy behind his decision to depart, and this was a perfect microcosm of his nine years at the Anfield helm.

Over to you, Tottenham

Tottenham’s clash with Manchester City might not carry quite the same appeal as it did before Arsenal’s win over Manchester United.

Events at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium alone cannot decide the fate of the Premier League title but have added significance in the top four race.

Ange Postecoglou’s side have to claw back a five-point deficit in their remaining two games and hope that Villa slip up in their final day trip to Crystal Palace.

They will also require a nine-goal swing to pip their Midlands counterparts to the English top flight’s Champions League spot by close of play this weekend.

After everything that unfolded in this game, however, you wouldn’t rule anything out.