Liverpool's pursuit of Champions League football next season might just have been dealt a telling blow after Aston Villa produced an impressive display at Anfield to halt the Reds' seven-match winning run in the Premier League.

After a largely woeful campaign, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool belatedly clicked into gear several weeks ago and issued a late surge towards the top four in the table, though a miracle is now needed to qualify for Europe's foremost continental competition for a seventh year in succession.

Both Newcastle United and Manchester United require just one point from their final two league matches to ensure they will play in the Champions League next year.

Liverpool were fortunate not to flounder to defeat this afternoon. Jacob Ramsey opened the scoring in the first half after Ollie Watkins missed his penalty after being adjudged to have been tripped by Reds centre-back Ibrahima Konate, and while Roberto Firmino made it a fairytale ending to his career at Anfield with a late equalising goal, it wasn't enough to secure victory.

While the defence showed signs of the instability that has played such a bitter role in Liverpool's travails this season, the attack was largely toothless, with mercurial winger Luis Diaz unable to make the desired effect against the Lions.

How did Luis Diaz perform vs Aston Villa?

Having picked up a knee injury during Liverpool's 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in October, Diaz would not return to the pitch until April, having missed a shocking 31 matches in total this season.

Since his return to competitive action, the Colombian has scored just one goal and provided zero assists from eight outings, and he was nullified in an ineffective performance against the high-flying Villans.

The 37-cap marauder, as per Sofascore, recorded a match rating of just 6.6 and was harangued for his "awful" game by content creator Tom Little before being substituted after 72 minutes.

While he didn't shirk from his defensive duties – making a tackle, interception and clearance apiece – from an offensive standpoint, he was uncharacteristically flimsy, registering just two off-target shots, failing to create a single key pass and failing with four of his five dribble attempts.

Goal's Neil Jones even branded the £55k-per-week winger with a shambolic 4/10 match rating, writing: 'Struggled to impact the game, despite seeing lots of the ball. Decision-making was poor.'

Captain Jordan Henderson was the only other Liverpool player to receive such a rating, having once again failed to positively affect the game and demonstrating his withering verve in winning just one of his six duels on the afternoon, being dribbled past twice and making just one tackle to count towards a meek defensive display.

While he cannot be solely blamed for a poor performance, Diaz's inefficacy was an illustration of how he has not quite found his feet after such a long time out, which, candidly, is understandable.

The horizon over yonder sees sunlight dapple across the pearly Anfield rafters; regardless of whether Liverpool qualify for the Champions League this term, there is enough quality to cast the shadow of a forgettable season aside and forge a path to victory once again.