Aston Villa wrecked Liverpool's chance of returning to the Champions League with a 4:2 win on Friday night - a result that not only closed out the Premier League's evening schedule, but pushed the fight for fourth place into the final round.

Villa are now fourth, three points ahead of Liverpool and seven ahead of Bournemouth, and they need only one more step to lock down the elite zone. Liverpool, who a few years ago carried the title of the biggest force on the Island, played like a team that's forgotten what movement inside an opponent's box looks like.

The home side's match-plan was simple: ride out the early pressure, strike from set pieces, profit from a mistake. And that's what happened. In the 7th minute Ollie Watkins shot wide, but Villa hit back in the 42nd through Morgan Rogers off a well-worked set-piece. Classic - anyone who watched the big sides on the Island knows set pieces are where the "small" teams settle it.

Liverpool came back through Virgil van Dijk in the 52nd, a header from Dominik Szoboszlai's cross. It looked like the balance would hold. But in the 57th Szoboszlai slipped, Watkins didn't forgive - and the same Watkins, in the 73rd, put away the home side's second goal. Then came the thunderbolt from John McGinn for 4:1, a long-range strike that closed the accounts.

Van Dijk scored another in stoppage time, but that was only cosmetic. Liverpool came out in this match to defend fourth place - and came out looking like a team that thinks past glory automatically brings points. It doesn't.

For Balkan Premier League fans, the final round is worth sitting down for. Villa control their own fate, Liverpool have to wait for mistakes. And the question now is - how often in English football do we see a beaten favourite who can't find an answer when their plan falls apart?