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• Klopp in awe of 'incredible' Emery ahead of Villa Park showdown

  Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the "incredible job" Unai Emery has done during his time at Aston Villa ahead of Monday's contest between the sides.

  Emery guided Villa into the Europa Conference League in his first campaign in charge, where they made it to the semi-final stage.

  The Villans' Euro campaign was ended by Olympiacos on Thursday, but they are one win from securing a Champions League spot for next term.

  Emery's men, who lost 1-0 at Brighton last time out in the league, can get themselves over the line with a game to spare when Liverpool visit Villa Park next up.

  "He's done an incredible job," Klopp said. "Emery is one of the best we have in the business, 100 per cent. 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. 

  "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."

  Liverpool enter the contest third in the Premier League, 11 points better off than Villa, with their title hopes now officially over.

  While there may not be a great deal on the line for the Reds on the face of it, this will be Klopp's final away game as Liverpool manager.

  The German is departing after next week's home match with Wolves, and Villa skipper John McGinn says he will be missed.

  "The league has been very lucky to have Klopp," McGinn said. "He has obviously got an identity and a really strong team. He will be missed.

  "I think everyone knows what we think of our own manager. We are very lucky to have him and his staff. They work endlessly to make us better."

  
  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  Aston Villa - Ollie Watkins

  Watkins has failed to score in back-to-back games in all competitions for Villa, with his blank against Brighton leaving him one short of the 20-goal mark in the Premier League this season.

  The last Villa player to reach that mark in a top-flight campaign was Peter Withe in 1980-81.

  The omens are certainly good, as only against Brighton (six) - ironically - has Watkins scored more goals in the competition than he has against Liverpool (five).

  Liverpool - Mohamed Salah

  Salah returned to the Liverpool starting line-up last weekend and both scored and assisted in the 4-2 win over Tottenham.

  The Egyptian has now both scored and assisted in four different Premier League games this season - only Chelsea's Cole Palmer (five) has done so more often.

  Across his entire Premier League career, Salah has done so 31 times in total, with that a tally only Wayne Rooney (36) and Thierry Henry (32) can better.

  MATCH PREDICTION - LIVERPOOL WIN

  Villa lost 1-0 to Brighton in their most recent league game, but they have not lost successive Premier League matches since May last year.

  Liverpool were 4-2 winners against Tottenham last time out, meanwhile, and have lost just one of their past 26 league games played in May.

  This is a fixture the Reds tend to do well in, however, as they have lost just once and won 10 times in their past 12 league games with Villa.

  Indeed, Liverpool have won more Premier League away games against Villa than they have any other opponents (16).

  Historically speaking, meanwhile, Liverpool have lost only one of their eight final away league games under Klopp, last doing so in 2018.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Aston Villa - 27.1%

  Draw - 27.7%

  Liverpool - 45.2%

• Lewandowski committed to Barcelona amid speculation over his future, says agent

  Robert Lewandowski remains committed to Barcelona amid speculation over his future, with his agent refuting reports the Poland striker wants to leave.

  Reports in Spain suggested Barcelona are considering the contract of 35-year-old Lewandowski as Xavi looks to bolster his attacking line-up after missing out on the LaLiga title to rivals Real Madrid.

  Lewandowski's agent Pini Zahavi rubbished reports that he is set to meet with Barca president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco, however.

  "This is nonsense," Zahavi told Polish journalist Tomasz Wlodarczyk, according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.

  "He wants to play one more year in Catalonia. He has signed a contract for four years.

  "It will depend on his performances in the 2024-2025 season and includes a clause that provides for the possibility of termination of the contract if Lewy does not play 55 per cent of the minutes."

  Lewandowski once again leads Barcelona's scoring charts this term in LaLiga, having found the net 17 times in 31 appearances before Monday's meeting with Real Sociedad.

  Barcelona will hope to leap back up to second in the Spanish top-flight standings with victory over La Real, currently trailing Girona by two points ahead of their game in hand.

• Messi fury sees Martino call for MLS rules revision on injuries

  Lionel Messi was left frustrated by being kept on the sidelines after an injury scare in Saturday's win over CF Montreal, with Inter Miami head coach Gerardo Martino calling for a revision of MLS rulings.

  The former Barcelona superstar was visibly furious after being forced off temporarily from a George Campbell foul, with the Miami forward missing a chance to take a presentable free-kick opportunity.

  New MLS regulations state players must leave the pitch for two minutes if the referee stops play due to a potential injury that leaves them on the ground for over 15 seconds.

  Following the 3-2 triumph over Montreal, Martino questioned the ruling and suggested it punished the wrong party.

  "There are situations that must be revised," the Herons boss said.

  "In Leo's situation, he was clearly fouled. The player deserved a yellow card, which would mean Messi would've never left the field for two minutes.

  "As I understand it, the team that suffered the foul was punished. With these new rule changes, some situations must be revised.

  "The infraction was clear and was a yellow card, and ultimately it was us that lost Leo for two minutes."

  Miami were left further aggrieved despite making it five straight wins to move three points clear at the Eastern Conference summit.

  Luis Suarez failed to leave the pitch in under 10 seconds when replaced by Leo Campana in the 92nd minute, with new MLS regulations meaning the fourth official delayed the substitution for another minute.

  "In the case of Suarez, we had a very important difference with the fourth referee in respect to the minute," Martino added.

  "We thought Suarez exited the pitch in under a minute, he did not see it that way and so Leo Campana's entry to the game was delayed."