John McGinn joked he would put on a Manchester City shirt to watch their game against Tottenham on Tuesday night.
Aston Villa came from two goals behind to earn a dramatic 3-3 draw against Liverpool on Monday night. Jhon Duran came off the bench to net twice inside three minutes to turn the game on its head to give Villa a boost in their attempts to earn a place in next season’s Champions League.
Unai Emery ’s side are fourth, five points ahead of Tottenham in fifth, but Spurs have a game in hand so could still overhaul their rivals. Spurs host title-chasing City on Tuesday night in a match of great significance for both sides, as well as Villa and Arsenal.
Tottenham now need to beat City for the sixth straight time at home in the league to take the race for fourth to the final day of the season on Sunday. So while Arsenal are in the strange position of rooting for their north London rivals, with Kai Havertz joking that the squad will be “the biggest Tottenham fans going”, Villa are firmly in the City camp.
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“People keep writing us off but we are here,” Villa captain McGinn told Sky Sports. “We have flown under the radar quite nicely and we are so close to fourth place now and we will have our Man City tops on tomorrow night and see what happens.”
Asked if they would watch Tuesday’s game, Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans said: “For sure. It’s normal I think. We are in that fourth position and we want to keep it. Hopefully it will be all done tomorrow.” Unlike his players, Emery kept his cards close to his chest, insisting he would remain focused on his own side and the preparations for Sunday’s trip to in-form Crystal Palace.
Villa had the worst possible start against Liverpool when Emi Martinez fumbled Harvey Elliott’s deflected cross into his own net after 61 seconds. They hit back when Tielemans fired in from Ollie Watkins’ cut-back, but Cody Gakpo tapped in to send the Reds in 2-1 ahead at half-time.
Jhon Duran scored twice late on to earn Aston Villa a point (BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)Villa missed huge chances through Diego Carlos, who somehow missed from a yard out from Leon Bailey’s cross, and Moussa Diaby, who blazed over while clean through. It appeared to be game over when Jarell Quansah headed in Elliott’s free-kick, but after yet more spurned chances, Duran made a difference.
He blasted into the bottom corner after Alexis Mac Allister was robbed on the edge of the box and then was lucky to see Diaby’s pass deflect off him and past Alisson. “It was a brilliant effort, especially towards the end,” McGinn said.
“I know we got a bit of fortune with the third goal, but it’s been a difficult couple of weeks. The manager will admit that the boys are out on their feet giving absolutely everything. Youri is coming back and playing through the pain barrier. Some of us are half men out there."
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