A hard fought 2-0 victory for Liverpool, with a goal in each half courtesy of Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah, has given Arne Slot’s men a five point lead at the top of the Premier League, though it took two top saves from Caoimhin Kelleher to help secure the points.
For the opening 20 minutes of this 8pm kick-off there was a lot of ‘shadow boxing’, with little incident. Liverpool broke the stalemate on the counter attack, Nunez with an acute finish after rounding Martinez, whilst Salah lay face down in the Anfield turf having been felled before the ball broke invitingly for the Uruguayan.
Liverpool, who’d dominated much of the half, needed Kelleher at his best as the first half came to an end, especially after Nunez had blazed over in front of the Kop when given the chance to double the lead on the counter-attack. The two close range saves from the Irishman, the second of which showed fantastic reflexes from almost point blank range, ensured Liverpool led after the opening 45 minutes.
The second-half opening minutes again offered Nunez a chance to double the lead. A close range header from an Andy Robertson cross, one of two changes from the mid-week game, really should have found the net, but was glanced just wide. A further opportunity from yet another counter attack also failed to settle the game, and the crowd. Salah’s pass just failing to find Luis Diaz as Aston Villa employed a corner tactic of leaving just Martinez as the final man, often standing on the half-way line.
It was though this somewhat risky strategy that ultimately became their downfall. This time the cleared corner fell to Salah following a corner for the visitors. He took the responsibility on himself, running half the length of the pitch, before lashing a close range shot past Martinez.
So heading into yet another international break, Liverpool have some breathing space at the Premier League summit. England however, will have to make do without Trent Alexander-Arnold, who left the pitch on 20 minutes, having suffered what looked like a hamstring injury. Slot, meanwhile, can reflect upon a quite unprecedented start to life in the Anfield hot seat, having won all but two of his opening 17 games in charge.
