Result

Tuesday’s only Premier League clash played out a short time ago and saw Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa host Liverpool.

Liverpool headed into the game having been dealt a blow in their pursuit of the 2021/22 Premier League title this past weekend.

The Reds drew 1-1 with Tottenham on Saturday evening whilst Manchester City put five past Newcastle United on Sunday.

As a result, Liverpool were three points adrift of Manchester City with just three league games left to play. City also have a four better goal difference thanks to their dominant win over Newcastle.

In turn, Liverpool really needed a dominant win over their former player’s side on Tuesday.

And, when all was said and done at Villa Park, Liverpool did manage to come away with a 2-1 win.

Aston Villa started well with Ollie Watkins working a good chance for himself, which was saved by Alisson. The Villains then took the lead just moments later after Liverpool failed to clear the ball and Alisson parried Douglas Luiz’s effort straight back at the Brazilian, who made no mistake a second time.


However, Liverpool hit back almost instantly via Joel Matip.


Mane then headed Liverpool into the lead after 64 minutes and that is how the tie finished.

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Aston Villa player ratings

Emiliano Martinez (5) – Could have done better when closing down Van Dijk when he set up Matip.

Matt Cash (6) – Put in a number of good crosses throughout the match.

Ezri Konsa (5) – Poor marking of Sadio Mane for his goa.

Tyrone Mings (3) – Poor attempt at a clearance for Matip’s equaliser. Nearly gave away another goal late in the tie as well.

Lucas Digne (6) – Created some good chances with his passing and crosses. Was also solid defensively.

John McGinn (5.5) – Made some good tackles to help break up Liverpool attacks.

Marvelous Nakamba (6) – Failed to clear the ball in the build-up to Matip’s goal. Made some decent tackles and interceptions before he was subbed off though.

Douglas Luiz (6.5) – Scored the opening goal thanks to some help from Alisson but his poor pass led to the counter for Liverpool’s second of the day.

Philippe Coutinho (6) – Did a great job of marking Fabinho out of the game before he went down injured. Was less effective going forward.

Danny Ings (4) – Should have done much better with a headed chance 23 minutes in and then again 68 minutes in when he found himself through on goal.

Ollie Watkins (5) – Threw his weight around, causing Liverpool’s defence some issues but was unable to get a goal.

Substitutes

Carney Chukwuemeka (3)Had little impact on the game.

Emiliano Buendia (3) – Brought on with Aston Villa in need of a second goal, which he did not help provide.

Bertrand Traore (N/A)

Liverpool player ratings

Alisson (2) – Parried the ball straight back at Luiz for the opener. Nearly gifted Villa a second goal with a poor clearance straight to Watkins.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (4.5) – Produced a couple of good long balls/crosses but none of them came to anything.

Virgil van Dijk (7) – Set up Matip for his goal and make some key tackles, including denying Coutinho when he would have been through on goal.

Joel Matip (7) – Scored Liverpool’s first of the night and was ok defensively.

Kostas Tsimikas (5) – Did not track Luiz for his goal. Good tackle early in the second half to deny Watkins a great shooting chance.

Fabinho (1) – Was completely marked out of the game by Coutinho before he was taken off injured.

Naby Keita (4) – Missed a sitter from 10 yards when he was unmarked, passing was not great.

Curtis Jones (3) – Showed patches of quality but struggled to have much of an impact on the game. Off after 61 minutes.

Sadio Mane (7) – Missed a good chance 19 minutes in, heading wide from a Tsimikas cross. Made up for it in the second half when he headed in Diaz’s cross.

Luis Diaz (6.5) – Not his most effective showing but did set up Mane for Liverpool’s second.

Diogo Jota (5.5) – A very quiet first 45 but then produced an excellent ball for Diaz in the build-up to Mane’s goal.

Substitutes

Jordan Henderson (4) – A decent but unspectacular showing.

Thiago (5) – Brought on to add some much-needed creativity and link Liverpool’s midfield and attack, which he did to a certain extent.

Mohamed Salah (5) – Caused Villa some problems with his pace and quick feet but didn’t get his goal.

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The Premier League table as it stands

# Team MP W D L F A D P
1 Manchester City 35 27 5 3 89 21 68 86
2 Liverpool FC 35 25 8 2 87 23 64 83
3 Chelsea FC 35 19 10 6 70 31 39 67
4 Arsenal FC 35 21 3 11 56 42 14 66
5 Tottenham Hotspur 35 19 5 11 60 40 20 62
6 Manchester United 37 16 10 11 57 56 1 58
7 West Ham United 36 16 7 13 57 46 11 55
8 Wolverhampton Wanderers 35 15 5 15 35 34 1 50
9 Brighton & Hove Albion 36 11 14 11 38 42 -4 47
10 Crystal Palace 35 10 14 11 46 42 4 44
11 Aston Villa 34 13 4 17 47 47 0 43
12 Brentford FC 36 12 7 17 44 52 -8 43
13 Newcastle United 36 11 10 15 40 61 -21 43
14 Leicester City 34 11 9 14 49 56 -7 42
15 Southampton FC 36 9 13 14 41 61 -20 40
16 Everton FC 34 10 5 19 37 56 -19 35
17 Burnley FC 35 7 13 15 32 49 -17 34
18 Leeds United 35 8 10 17 39 74 -35 34
19 Watford FC 35 6 4 25 32 70 -38 22
20 Norwich City 35 5 6 24 22 75 -53 21

Last updated: 1 min ago