The Match, The Stat: Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
Every little thing gonna be alright
Top Five Stats
Mohamed Salah equalled the Premier League record for the most goal contributions for a single club.
He had missed his previous eight Opta-defined big chances before opening the scoring.
This was the first game in which Liverpool only made one substitution since their 3-3 draw at Brentford in 2021.
Aston Villa had just four shots in the penalty box; only Frankfurt (three) and Burnley (one) have had fewer against the Reds this season.
Ryan Gravenberch has scored two of Liverpool’s three league goals from outside the box this season. Both were deflected.
Match Review
I went to Anfield tonight for the first time this season. For the first time in the Arne Slot era, in fact. I got to chant CHAMPIONS at the Champions; what’s not to like?
Liverpool were pretty good to great for much of the match. I set off hoping to see Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz for the first time. Yet the goal scorers were Mohamed Salah and Ryan Gravenberch. I hadn’t noticed initially but the starting XI was a 2024/25 sandwich, with a new player at either end of the team.
It all made so much more sense. Playing Andy Robertson gives Virgil van Dijk less to worry about, which in turn helps Ibrahima Konaté. Conor Bradley had comfortably his best game of the campaign, as did Alexis Mac Allister. Maybe Salah too.
Dominik Szoboszlai was man of the match for me, though. All over the place in the best way that the phrase can be taken. Again, Liverpool make more sense when he’s between Salah and Cody Gakpo. It won’t have been coincidence that the pressing was much improved with the Hungarian there. As for Ekitike, some of his flicks and tricks were sublime. Dare I say Firmino-esque? I dare.
It helps that Aston Villa aren’t a good team. I was tempted to state this as a matter of fact in the Top Five Stats. They are just 0.4 expected goals above having the worst attack in the Premier League. Smacking the post aside, they didn’t look like scoring.
If it seems odd that Slot only made one in-game change, it was telling that you could almost see the confidence returning to the side. Maybe the boss wanted his main men to enjoy a league game for the first time in a while. You can’t blame him for that, even with Real Madrid in town this week.
The crowd chanted Slot’s name emphatically. They also sang Bob Marley at the end: Don’t worry about a thing. Every little thing gonna be alright.
And it is. Liverpool might not win the league this season but if they keep playing like this, they’ll be (more than) alright.
Good game to go to given some of the performances this season!
Generally though we have been pretty good at home, but this felt like a step forward in that we actually were in control of the game.
Having Szobo next to Salah, and an improved Bradley certainly helped as did a fiery Mac Allister.
It still kind of leaves more questions than answers though. Last seasons team is very good, we already knew this.
How do we get Wirtz in the team without it looking less good though? Kerkez is less important, he’s young and new to the top echelon of football, so him being sub for a while (if that happens), isn’t a big deal.
Wirtz didn’t sign for Liverpool to sit on the bench though.
Happy with the result but Andrew's 4th point is the main reason for optimism. Only 4 shots from the "danger zone" and 2 of them had ideal pressure on the ball. However, three concerns have me feeling more relieved at the outcome vs. happy with the performance.
First, we created very few promising chances (incl. none for Hugo) with the first goal coming from an opponent's mistake. There were many opportunities for shots that were squandered with poor decision-making in the sequence before an opportunity. Our attack is still not at the level required.
Second, we continue the baffling tactic of over-committing to attacks when leading 2-0. Malen's shot in the 70th minute was the direct result of Macca overcommitting vs. covering, resulting in a counter-attack. When Ryan dribbles by Villa's #10, Macca joins the attack. Why? We're up 2-0 and it wasn't a slam dunk opportunity as Villa had 3 behind the ball centrally and Macca had 4 teammates in front of it already. Had he dropped behind Ryan, Macca would have recovered Konsa's block or competed with Barkley to retrieve it, eliminating the counter before it started. This has happened in 3 matches where we were punished and you'd like to think we've addressed it by now.
Third, we continue to switch off defensively in key moments. I agree that Dom had a good match but he failed to do the basics for 2 of the 4 danger zone shots where we didn't put pressure on the ball. He doesn't pick up Rogers drifting into the 6 for his missed header (56th). He doesn't pick up Barkley who drifts into the danger zone his missed shot (78th). How do we lose our marks in the danger zone when leading after 60 min? On another day against better opposition, those are quality chances that test the keeper and some turn into goals.
Again, I'm more relieved than happy with the performance even if it was improved defensively.