Premier League: Aston Villa slips up in race for UCL after 1-0 loss at Brighton, Liverpool beat Tottenham

A bad week for Aston Villa got worse on Sunday after a surprise 1-0 loss at Brighton in the race for the top four in the Premier League.

Unai Emery's team lost 4-2 at home to Olympiakos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semifinal on Thursday. And on a day when Villa could have secured its place in next season's Champions League, it suffered another setback.

Joao Pedro's 87th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium gave hope to fifth-place Tottenham in its pursuit of Villa in fourth. Tottenham played Liverpool at Anfield later Sunday with the chance to move within four points of Villa with a game still in hand.

Villa would have been certain of a top-four finish if it had won at Brighton and Spurs had gone on to lose against Liverpool. But after Pedro saw his late penalty saved by Robin Olsen, he was alert enough to head home from the rebound.

Liverpool beat Tottenham

Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-2 at Anfield to condemn the visitors to a fourth consecutive loss which leaves their hopes of Champions League qualification hanging by a thread.

Elliott’s strike, after goals from Salah, Andy Robertson and Cody Gakpo, fired Liverpool into a 4-0 lead before the game had even reached the hour mark. What followed was the unlikeliest of fightbacks from Spurs that might have made this another frustrating day in what has ultimately been a disappointing finale for Klopp at the end of nearly nine trophy-filled years.

Goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min made it a much closer contest than it had ever looked like being. And it needed two outstanding saves from Alisson, a goal-line clearance from Joe Gomez and a VAR call to prevent it from being closer still.

Chelsea routs West Ham

Chelsea’s troubled season could still end on something of a high after Mauricio Pochettino’s team boosted its chances of European soccer next season with a 5-0 rout of West Ham.

The win at Stamford Bridge moved Chelsea up to seventh in the standings and two points behind sixth-place Newcastle. Only the top six teams in the Premier League will be guaranteed a place in Europe next season.

(With inputs from AP)

We are losing tosses but winning matches and that's what matters: Shreyas Iyer | IPL 2024