Liverpool faced off against Aston Villa at Villa Park earlier this evening as they hoped to earn a positive result away from home in the Premier League. The Reds made a quick start to the game and took the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of Mohamed Salah’s goal from close range. Virgil Van Dijk doubled Liverpool’s lead in the 37th minute with a decent strike from a tight angle as the Merseyside club went into the half-time break 2-0 up on the scoreline.
The Reds were sloppy after the half-time break and conceded a goal in the 59th minute when Ollie Watkins found the back of the net with a great header. However, Stefan Bajcetic came off the bench and netted a wonderful goal in the 81st minute as Liverpool cruised to an impressive 3-1 win on the road.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the match against the Villans.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7.5/10
The Brazilian keeper made a handful of solid saves at the back and did enough to restrict the opposition to just one goal.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
Alexander-Arnold had a really good game in the first half as he ran the show from the right flank. However, he struggled to influence the game after the half-time break.
CB: Joel Matip – 7.5/10
He made plenty of crunching tackles and even earned possession back twice. Matip produced a solid display on the defensive end of the field.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 8/10
The Dutch talent snuffed out the danger really well at times and performed well enough to keep the home side frustrated for most of the contest.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7.5/10
Robertson was always willing to make some driving runs with the ball and did his fair share of defending as well. He ended the game with an assist to his name.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 6.5/10
The Liverpool captain made one good chance during the game but struggled to provide enough protection for his teammates at the back.
CM: Fabinho – 7/10
The Brazilian sensation did most of the defensive dirty work for Liverpool at the centre of the park.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 6.5/10
Thiago showed what he is capable of at times but put in an average display in midfield.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8/10
Salah was always willing to run in behind the opponent’s backline and has got a goal and an assist to show for his efforts.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 7/10
He made a lot of excellent runs in behind the Aston Villa backline but missed a lot of chances to find the back of the net. However, Nunez did really well in the lead-up to Bajcetic’s second-half goal.
LW: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10
He made one good chance in the final third but lacked quality on the ball.
Substitutes:
CM: Naby Keita – 6/10
Keita offered very little after coming off the bench.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 6/10
He added more energy to Jurgen Klopp’s midfield.
CB: Stefan Bajcetic – 7.5/10
Bajcetic was really good on the ball and kept his composure to score a good goal which ensured the victory for his team.
RB: Joe Gomez – 6/10
He was solid at the back.
RW: Ben Doak – N/A
Doak injected more pace into Liverpool’s attack.
