Liverpool travelled to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa earlier today hoping to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League standings. The Reds began the encounter in a dominant fashion, but they conceded in the 21st minute when Trezeguet scored from a tight angle. Jurgen Klopp’s players grew stronger as the half wore off but couldn’t find the equaliser before the half-time break.
The second half was more of the same with the Merseyside outfit pushing on and throwing everything but the kitchen sink going forward. Andrew Robertson finally popped up with the equaliser in the 87th minute when he scored with his powerful header from close range. Sadio Mane found the back of the net in injury-time with his well-directed header to complete the turnaround for the European champions. The clash finished with Klopp’s men running away with a 2-1 win from the West Midlands.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the contest against the Villans.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10
The Brazilian keeper couldn’t do much about Trezeguet’s goal. However, he accurately distributed the ball out from the back and made some vital clearances when under pressure by the Villa attackers.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7.5/10
The English full-back was a bit vulnerable defensively, but he was once again an offensive force going forward. The Liverpool-born player whipped in some inviting crosses from the right flank and finally got his just reward in injury-time when his delivery from a corner was met by Mane who scored with a clever header.
CB: Dejan Lovren – 6/10
The Croatia international looked a bit shaky at the back, but he did enough to restrict the Villans to just one goal today.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 6.5/10
The Dutch defensive ace won a lot of headers and distributed the ball well. However, he was not at his fluent best during the game, which could be due to tiredness for playing so many minutes across all competitions.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 9/10
The Scottish full-back chose his moments to make some penetrative dribbles down the left flank. His late run into the Villa box was picked out by Mane, and the former Hull City defender made no mistake from close range.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 6/10
The English midfielder was always looking to pass sideways and back rather than be a bit more creative in the opposition half. However, he worked his socks off, which was enough for Liverpool to earn all three points at Villa Park.
CM: Adam Lallana – 6/10
The English midfielder kept the ball moving at the centre of the park but struggled to unlock the Villa defence as his final delivery was poor.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 5/10
The Dutch midfield ace tried to do too much but ended up doing very little. He was often caught napping when in possession of the ball and didn’t show enough invention with his passes.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 4/10
The Egyptian winger got into some good positions, but he did not have his finishing boots on today. He was wasteful in the final third and was rightfully substituted in the second half.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 7/10
The Brazilian forward scored a goal that was ruled out in the first half. He ran the show in the final quarter of the match when he dropped back to assume a box to box midfield role. Firmino was Klopp’s best weapon in the opposition half.
LM: Sadio Mane – 8/10
The Senegalese speedster took his own sweet time to get going. His incredible vision to pick out Robertson with a decisive cross was nothing short of exceptional. He also found a way to win the contest when his well-directed header beat Tom Heaton in the Villa goal.
Substitutes:
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7/10
He could have scored after coming off the bench. However, despite getting three bites at the cherry, his goal-bound attempts were blocked by some brave Villa defenders.
ST: Divock Origi – 6/10
The Belgian striker got a couple of half-chances but didn’t cause too many problems for the Villa defenders.
CM: Naby Keita – 4/10
He gave away the ball a couple of times after coming on for the final few minutes of the clash.
