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Aston Villa 2 – 2 Liverpool – The PL Postmortem

The atmosphere at Villa Park was intense and expectant before kick-off as these two Champions League rivals looked to take control of this midweek battle.

Below is how the team lined up, with match details following.

The Starting Eleven

GK – Alisson Becker

RB – Trent Alexander Arnold

RCB – Ibrahima Konaté

LCB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

LB – Andy Robertson

CM – Alexis Mac Allister

ACM – Dominik Szoboszlai

CM – Ryan Gravenberch

RF – Mohamed Salah

CF – Diogo Jota

LF – Curtis Jones

Subs

Conor Bradley – Trent Alexander Arnold (65 mins)

Darwin Núñez – Diogo Jota (65 mins)

Luis Díaz – Alexis Mac Allister (80 mins)

Jarell Quansah – Conor Bradley (89 mins)

Goals (Assisted by)

Aston Villa 0 – 1 Liverpool

Mohamed Salah – (Diogo Jota ) 29 mins

Aston Villa 1 – 1 Liverpool

Youri Tielemans – 38 mins

Aston Villa 2 – 1 Liverpool

Ollie Watkins (Lucas Digne) – 45+3 mins

Aston Villa 2 – 2 Liverpool

Trent Alexander Arnold (Mohamed Salah) – 61 mins

Important Match Stats

Possession

Aston Villa 52% – 48% Liverpool

XG

Aston Villa 0.67 – 2.50 Liverpool

Total Shots

Aston Villa 9 – 17 Liverpool

Corner Kicks

Aston Villa 6 – 8 Liverpool   

Offsides

Aston Villa 3 – 2 Liverpool    

Fouls

Aston Villa 8 – 6 Liverpool

Goalkeeper Saves

Aston Villa 1 – 1 Liverpool   

The First Half

The Beginning of the Game

The match began at a curious pace as Liverpool had several chances that rose and fell without truly testing the Villa keeper, Emiliano Martínez. Virgil van Dijk blazed over from close range and the Reds looked to cut through a team that looked unsure and the visitors looking bright from the opening bell.

Unai Emery’s men responded and started to assume better control of the game with strong counter-pressing and relentless running. VAR was called upon to cancel out Liverpool’s skippers’ own goal before some misplaced passing let in the away side to open the scoring. As Villa tried to set a trap deep in their defensive third, Diogo Jota was able to latch onto the ball on the edges of their box and drive toward the goal before squaring to his Egyptian teammate, Mohamed Salah. The record-breaking scorer was able to strike the ball into the roof of the net and the score shifted to promising 0-1.

As the game continued to swing from end to end, it would be the hosts that would strike next, with a dangerous ball into the box failing to be cleared by Arne Slot’s men. Eventually, Youri Tielemans was able to thunder his shot past Alisson Becker who had his view blocked by Dominik Szoboszlai. Diogo Jota had the immediate chance to restore his team’s lead, however, his shot was struck uncharacteristically high and wide. It would be Ollie Watkins who would find the next goal of the game as he travelled into the box to nod home from a delightful cross from the left. The defensive awareness and line clearing had been poor from Liverpool as they allowed two goals to be conceded when they should have been avoided.

The first half ended with the game in the balance, though with the hosts 2-1 ahead.

The Second Half

Liverpool began the second half without any changes to their starting eleven. Alisson Becker nearly gifted a third goal for the home side as he rushed out of his box and missed the ball completely. Ibrahima Konaté was able to head the resulting shot away as an open goal beckoned.

A snapshot by Dominik Szoboszlai was easily collected by Martinez as the Reds struggled to create a clear-cut opportunity. Diogo Jota was then unlucky with a strike from distance which shaved the top of the crossbar. The second Liverpool goal did come soon thereafter as Trent Alexander Arnold drove forward and latched onto a Mohamed Salah pass before his strike deflected into the net. After the substitutions by Arne Slot, Dominik Szoboszlai was able to scamper free and lay on a perfect pass for Darwin Núñez who missed an open goal from a fair angle.

It would be Darwin Núñez who was next involved as he was released into space, however, Martinez was able to get to the ball first and halt the chance with a well-timed challenge. One more opportunity to create was wasted again by the Liverpool number 9 before Aston Villa had a goal disallowed.

The match ended with a score of 2-2 and disappointment for the Reds.

https://twitter.com/anfieldindex/status/1892590365477105939?s=46

Final Thoughts

This match was a crucial moment for Liverpool and despite the failure to grab all three points, another step forward was taken against a very good side.

Next up is Manchester City where a win at the Etihad is becoming very important to rebuild momentum.

Steven Smith’s Score Prediction;

Aston Villa 1 – 2 Liverpool

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