Liverpool earned a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa at Anfield courtesy of Salah’s goal in the 67th minute. The Reds were left frustrated as Villa defended deep throughout the game and were missing that cutting edge in the final third. Although Mohamed Salah rose up to the occasion when he turned Tyrone Mings inside the box and the latter fouled him resulting in a penalty which he calmly converted. Liverpool had many chances to double the lead in the later stages of the game but held on to a 1-0 win at the end.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the clash against Aston Villa.
GK: Alisson Becker – 6.5/10
The Brazilian shot-stopper didn’t have to make a save throughout the game but had some nervy moments in sweeping the ball near the penalty box.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6.5/10
Trent tried to deliver crosses into the box for the Liverpool attackers and also kept things tight at the back giving the Villa attackers no room to work with.
CB: Joel Matip – 8.5/10
Matip didn’t put a foot wrong throughout the 90 minutes and won crucial duels when needed. He also made some great clearances and dribbled through the midfield a few times to create opportunities.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 7.5/10
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7/10
Robertson looked dangerous in that left flank and he made a lot of overlapping runs into the box but lacked accuracy in the final third.
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CM: Jordan Henderson – 6/10
Henderson didn’t look comfortable on the ball but did enough to press the ball high up the pitch and track the runners behind him.
CM: Fabinho – 7.5/10
Fabinho swept away all the Villa attacks brilliantly as he didn’t let anyone go past him. He also made some great tackles and recovered the ball well.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 7/10
Thiago controlled the tempo of the game from the middle of the park and distributed the ball accurately throughout the game.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8/10
Salah missed a couple of half chances but he couldn’t be kept quiet as he earned the penalty himself and scored the winner to give Liverpool all 3 points on the day.
ST: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10
Ox played in a false nine position replacing Jota but didn’t have much impact on the game as he hardly had any room to work with.
LW: Sadio Mane – 6.5/10
Mane tried to dribble past his opponents from the left flank but lacked that final ball or the finishing touch inside the penalty box.
Substitutes:
ST: Diogo Jota – 6/10
Jota came on and had an instant impact but also missed a big chance at the end.
CM: James Milner – N/A
Milner hardly had any time to impact the game.
ST: Takumi Minamino – N/A
Minamino came on in the 88th minute and hardly had any time to impact the game.
