Liverpool locked horns with Aston Villa at Villa Park earlier tonight hoping to close the gap to Everton at the top of the Premier League table. The Reds made a nightmare start to the game as they conceded two early goals to Ollie Watkins. However, Mohamed Salah got a goal back in the 33rd minute.
Soon after, John McGinn restored Villa’s two-goal lead before Watkins completed his hattrick in the 39th minute. The Merseyside club went into the half-time break 4-1 down with a mountain to climb in the second half.
Ross Barkley scored the home team’s fifth goal with a deflected attempt. But Salah struck back with a close-range finish at the hour mark. Jack Grealish scored two more goals to cap off a 7-2 win over the champions of England.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the match against the Villans.
GK: Adrian – 0/10
The Spaniard made one good save in the game but committed a few comical errors on his way to shipping in seven goals tonight.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 2/10
The English right-back was non-existent in defence and failed to create anything meaningful going forward.
CB: Joe Gomez – 2/10
The English centre-back made a catalogue of errors at the back and was subbed after the half-time break.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 3/10
The Dutch defender was far from convincing and had a nightmare game at the back.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 5/10
The Scottish left-back worked hard but was nowhere near his usual levels.
CM: Naby Keita – 3/10
The Guinean midfield ace struggled to get into the game and didn’t track back to defend when losing possession in the opposition half.
CM: Fabinho – 3/10
The Brazilian midfielder lost the midfield battle and made some horrible mistakes when told to fill in at centre-back.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 2/10
The Dutch midfielder struggled to retain possession in the first half and went missing in the second.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 7/10
The Egyptian winger scored two fine goals, but the rest of his teammates let him down at the back.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 2/10
The Brazilian striker gave away the ball cheaply far too many times and was lacklustre in the final third.
LW: Diogo Jota – 5/10
The Portuguese wide player began the contest brightly but lacked the killer instinct in the attacking third.
Substitutes:
ST: Takumi Minamino – 4/10
The Japanese international never looked like he had a goal in him.
CM: James Milner – 6/10
The English veteran showed some heart and grit in the face of adversity.
CM: Curtis Jones – 5/10
The youngster struggled to give his team any control in the game.
