Will Liverpool FC win on 2026-05-17?

Analysis

Liverpool are walking into Villa Park missing their goalkeeper, their best player at full tilt, and whatever passing rhythm Wirtz was supposed to provide. Alisson Becker being sidelined is not a footnote — it's a headline. Losing your best keeper in a match with Champions League stakes, away from home, against a side fighting for the same prize? That's a serious problem. Yes, Villa are missing Onana, Kamara and Barkley in midfield, and that hurts their engine room. But Emery's defensive structure doesn't crumble just because the midfield gets reshuffled. Villa Park has roared this side to big results all season, and this crowd won't let them fold. Salah returning is welcome, but a Salah running on limited fitness is not the Salah who wins matches in the final third. Liverpool's last outing — a draw at Chelsea — showed they can be contained when they're not at full clip. Away from home, in this atmosphere, against a side desperate for European football, that pattern repeats. Both clubs are locked together on points with everything to play for. I'd back Villa or the draw — Liverpool's injury list makes them too fragile to trust at Villa Park right now.