Liverpool have taken advantage of Manchester City’s latest blunder to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table. A few hours after the defending champions suffered defeat at the hands of Brighton and Hove Albion, the Merseysiders beat Aston Villa at Anfield, courtesy of breakaway goals from Darwin Nunez (20′) and Mohamed Salah (84′).
The teams
Despite his team’s excellent form, Liverpool boss Arne Slot will be glad of the upcoming international break, with Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Harvey Elliott all expected back in action when club obligations resume. But at the moment, that quartet remains out.
Caoimhin Kelleher was in goal again, shielded by the back four of Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister occupied the two deeper midfield roles, while Curtis Jones had more freedom to roam further up. With Salah on the right and Luis Diaz on the left, Darwin Nunez led the attack.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery had a slightly better situation regarding injuries, with right-back Matty Cash and midfielder Ross Barkley the only absentees.
With the Yashin Award-winning Emiliano Martinez between the posts, Diego Carlos and Pau Torres paired up in central defence, flanked by Lucas Digne and Ezri Konsa. Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana were tasked with fighting in the middle of the park, with Morgan Rogers further up. Striker Ollie Watkins was supported by Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey from the flanks.
The game
It was a lively and exciting affair from start to finish. Both teams sought to establish dominance in the middle of the park and neither were ready to give an inch of it away. The ball moved quickly both ways between the two boxes and there were plenty of shots, but without much accuracy. Liverpool got five of 14 on target, Villa just two of their total of 12. The home side dominated possession in the end with 63%, but their two goals came from a pair of lightning-quick counterattacks.
Salah was crucial for both situations, having broken out in his own trademark fashion, using his vast pace to charge goalwards. In the 20th minute, the Egyptian was brought down by Carlos, who can consider himself lucky that Nunez picked the ball up and gave referee David Coote the option to play advantage, even though the Uruguayan striker scored. Had it not been so, the Villa defender would’ve most likely been sent off. In the 84th, Salah finished it off himself and secured victory for his team, just as the visitors increased the pressure in search of an equalizer.
Watkins powerless against Konate
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in 11 Premier League matches this term, the fewest in the league, and the partnership of Van Dijk and Konate is arguably the main reason behind it. And with numerous top-level strikers agreeing on Van Dijk being extremely difficult to play against, most of them seek to avoid the Netherlands captain and target duels against whoever plays with him instead.
However, this term that strategy simply doesn’t work. Konate has been monumental in Liverpool’s back line, proving just as hard to get around as Van Dijk, possibly even more so. Watkins learned that the hard way in this game; despite his proven quality as a striker, there was nothing he could do against the strength, pace and increasingly intelligent play of the France international.
There was, however, one moment when Watkins tried to get around Konate and went down under contact inside the box. Coote did not deem it worthy of a penalty, and having checked the situation himself, Paul Tierney in the VAR room decided not to intervene. A look at the slow-motion footage from relevant angles revealed that the Villa striker actually chose to go down, and that the contact was nowhere near strong enough to force him to do so.
Alexander-Arnold injury
The only really worrying moment for Liverpool in this game happened in the 25th minute, when Alexander-Arnold, whose future is increasingly uncertain amid reports of strong interest from Real Madrid, asked to be taken off through injury. Conor Bradley came on and played a good game, but the Reds were notably bereft of the talents of one of the best passers in the English top flight.
As Slot revealed after the game, the 26-year-old is unlikely to play for England in the upcoming matches against Greece and Ireland, though it’s still possible, and the extent of the injury is currently unknown.
“It’s difficult to say how serious it is, but it’s always serious if a player goes out in the first half,” Slot said in his post-match press conference.
“Not because I didn’t like him, but because he asked for it himself.
“He didn’t ask for it because he was tired, he asked for it because he felt something.
“That’s first of all not a good sign, but it is always difficult so close after the game to tell you exactly what it is. Let’s wait and see.
“I would be surprised if we will see him playing for the England national team this week, but hopefully he can.”
Liverpool five points clear
Liverpool have now moved five points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League table, and Pep Guardiola’s side will be hard put to it to get back on track, having suffered four consecutive defeats in all competitions for the first time since the Catalan tactician took charge in 2016.
The Merseysiders have certainly proven everybody who didn’t consider them as serious contenders for the title wrong.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa have dropped to eighth place. They are level on (18) points with Fulham in seventh, Chelsea in sixth and Arsenal in fifth, but the latter two have a game in hand as they face each other at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
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