Liverpool halted their domestic losing skid at five with an opportunistic 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday.
MORE — Arne Slot reaction
Mohamed Salah feasted on an Emiliano Martinez error and Ryan Gravenberch insured the lead with a deflected strike as the Reds won their first Premier League outing since Sept. 20 — a run of four PL matches without a point.
WATCH — Liverpool v Aston Villa full match replay
Villa struggled to make an impact in Liverpool’s third and finishes the day in 11th place with 15 points, three points behind their third-placed hosts in a congested Premier League table.
Liverpool take what’s there for them versus vexed Villans
Liverpool aren’t as good as the team that started 5-0 and surely aren’t as poor as the squad that went on to lose four-straight, but there isn’t a ton to say about Saturday’s return to the win column other than the visitors didn’t do the things required to compete at Anfield. A big error and a big deflection helped deliver Liverpool their goals, and Aston Villa’s attack rarely looked capable of producing much at the other end aside from a vicious Matty Cash shot saved early by Giorgi Mamardashvili. There may be other storylines and moral victories won inside these 90 minutes, but the three points were decided as simply as the better team snapping up what was served to them by the visiting underdogs.
What’s next?
Liverpool host Real Madrid at 3pm ET Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, then visit Manchester City for a huge Sunday match on November 9.
Villa host Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the Europa League on Thursday afternoon, then welcome Bournemouth on Nov. 9 for a PL affair.
How to watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 4pm ET Saturday
Venue: Anfield — Liverpool
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Liverpool vs Aston Villa live updates, final score: 2-0
Mohamed Salah 45+1', Ryan Gravenberch 58'
Tyrone Mings injury
The Villa sub is leaving the game, tapping at his right hamstring as the game hits its second of four minutes’ stoppage time.
Villa will finish with 10 men.
Liverpool sub
Ekitike exits for Florian Wirtz in the 77th minute.
Subs
Tyrone Mings, Jadon Sancho, and Ian Maatsen will attempt to invigorate the visitors as Lucas Digne, Pau Torres, and Ollie Watkins depart the contest.
John McGinn and Evann Guessand has previously left for Donyell Malen and Ross Barkley.
Arne Slot has not made a change through 75 minutes but looks set to deploy Florian Wirtz any moment now.
Ryan Gravenberch goal (video) — Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
Villa play short out of the back and Torres launches a clearance that Liverpool very quickly turn into attack.
Szoboszlai cues up Gravenberch and the midfielder lashes a shot that takes a hard deflection to wrong foot Martinez.
Halftime — Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
That’s really deflating for Aston Villa.
All they would’ve wanted from stoppage time was to get into the room without damage on the scoreboard.
Relieved by VAR, they instead looked a gift horse in the mouth and gave a goal directly to the fourth-highest scorer in Premier League history.
It’s the sort of tide turner that could really lead to an ugly second half.
Mohamed Salah goal (video) — Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
What a mistake from Emi Martinez.
Unai Emery was waiting for halftime and he won’t make it there at nil-nil.
Martinez passes wide of Pau Torres and Mohamed Salah has a whole lot of goal given his acumen.
Hugo Ekitike offside goal
The Reds needed something like this, and Anfield explodes as their French striker turns a brilliant Dominik Szoboszlai cross inside the post with a header.
The AR didn’t raise his flag but perhaps he should’ve — Ekitike was 3/4 of a body offside.
Mamardashvili flying save
Matty Cash is feeling it after a brilliant goal in Week 9, and now he’s forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into a terrific save that deprives the Polish international from opening the scoring with an upper 90 rocket.
0-0, 20'
Reds finding their groove
It was even for the first 8-10 minutes, but the current stanza is very much about Liverpool.
Cody Gakpo nearly cues up a Hugo Ekitike goal, and Liverpool’s press is impressing Anfield.
Liverpool lineup
Mamardashvili, Robertson, Van Dijk, Konate, Bradley, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Gakpo, Ekitike, Salah
Aston Villa lineup
Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Kamara, McGinn, Guessand, Rogers, Watkins
Liverpool team news, focus
OUT: Jeremie Frimpong (hamstring), Giovanni Leoni (knee - MORE), Alisson Becker (unspecified — MORE) | QUESTIONABLE: Alexander Isak (groin - MORE), Curtis Jones (groin) | QUESTIONABLE: Ryan Gravenberch (ankle)
Aston Villa team news, focus
OUT: Harvey Elliott (loan - unable to face parent club), Emiliano Buendia (ankle), Youri Tielemans (lower leg), Andres Garcia (undisclosed)
Liverpool vs Aston Villa preview
Few would’ve predicted the Reds could go so ice cold, but here we are after Premier League losses to Brentford, Manchester United, Chelsea plus a pair of losses to Crystal Palace between the league and Wednesday’s League Cup tie. And Arne Slot’s defending PL champions lost at Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League on Sept. 30, meaning their 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the same competition on Oct. 22 is Liverpool’s only win in seven matches.
Villa endured a nightmare start to the season but Unai Emery’s side have some impressive results under their belts. The Villans beat Man City at Villa Park last weekend, shaking off a Europa League loss at Go Ahead Eagles. That loss, ironically, was Villa’s only non-win in their last seven outings. And Villa haven’t lost in the Premier League since August.
Liverpool vs Aston Villa prediction
The Reds are a dangerous bunch and they essentially punted on the League Cup fourth round at home to Palace in order to have full strength for a brutal three-match run of Villa at home, Real Madrid at home, and Man City away. Villa are busy, too, though they’ll be at home for a pair of fixtures following this one. The impetus will be on Liverpool to deliver a win especially after Slot’s rotated lineup left Anfield without a goal or League Cup hopes at midweek. Surely they can’t have fallen this far from their standards. Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa.
