Liverpool won with an own goal by Szoboszl, Salah and Cash
The Reds are still unbeaten in the Premier League this season
Jürgen Klopp’s team have now won their last three matches.
Liverpool go into the international break in September still unbeaten in the Premier League as they comfortably beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Sunday.
An unlucky own goal from Dominik Szoboszla, Mohamed Salah and Matty Cash ensured the Reds cruised to three points with surprising ease against a high-flying Villa outfit.
With the win, Liverpool move 10 points clear of their first four games of the season.
How was the game
Just three minutes into the game, the impressive Szoboszlai scored a stunning opener. The new brand latched onto a header from a corner kick to brilliantly drill the ball over the goal and into the bottom right corner of the net. It’s fair to say that Liverpool fans are excited to see the Hungarian start life at Anfield.
Liverpool dominated possession and territory thereafter and quickly made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
When Salah found Darwin Nunez’s clever first-time effort from the outside of the boot, the Uruguayan flicked the ball off the post, then straight past Cash and into the net.
A few minutes later it was almost three when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot caught Joel Matip completely unmarked eight yards from goal. However, the defender deflected his subsequent header over the post. Nunez hit the bar again late in the second half when he crashed the ball under the bar after Salah on the right wing.
Aston Villa finally showed signs of life early in the second half when Cash forced Alisson into a smart save from Lucas Digne’s cross.
Liverpool then went straight down the other end to create their own wonderful opener. It would be an opening that Nunez comically wastes. Salah found him with a boot pass and whipped the ball into the empty net from just six yards out. It was pretty bad. Salah saved Nunez from blushing shortly after he was alive to tap home from Nunez’s corner to head home the Reds’ treble in front of the box.
The Egyptian superstar continued to wreak havoc down the right after scoring, forcing Emi Martinez to make a smart save with an ambitious strike.
CURRENT PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE, KEY SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
Liverpool player ratings
Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah
decent save in the second half.
RB – Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10 – Villa couldn’t handle their passing areas at all.
CB – Joel Matip – 5/10 – Missed a big chance in the first half. CB – Joe Gomez – 6/10 – Easy outing for Virgil van Dijk.
LB – Andy Robertson – 6/10 – Held Villa threat Cash very, very quiet on the right.
CM – Dominik Szoboszlai – 8/10 – Scored a great goal to open the scoring. He is a serious player.
CM – Alexis Mac Allister – 7/10 – Another combative performance as Liverpool’s midfield workhorse. CM – Curtis Jones – 6/10 – Lineup in and out of the game.
RW – Mohamed Salah – 8/10 – typically brilliant performance. He was at the heart of the Reds’ exploits.
ST – Darwin Nunez – 5/10 – Hit the post, crossbar and missed the open net. He was a constant threat on his drives, but there are so many places you can’t miss. You just can’t.
LW – Luis Diaz – 6/10 – Dynamic on the left side.
Substitutes.
SUB – Cody Gakpo (’64 for Nunez) – 6/10 – Well connected game.
BELOW – Diogo Jota (’64 for Diaz) – 5/10 – Attended the performance.
SUB – Harvey Elliott (64 for Jones) – 6/10 – Saw a decent long-range effort fly wide. SUB – Jarrell Quansah (’72 for Alexander-Arnold) – N/A.
SUB – Wataru Endo (’87 for Mac Allister) – Not used.
The driver
Jürgen Klopp – 7/10 – His team attacked today. Much better than what we saw at the beginning of the season.
Aston Villa Player Days
FBL-FIN-PR-LIVERPOOL-ASTO VILLA
Bad performance.
GK – Emi Martinez – 5/10 – Liverpool didn’t have many chances in goal. CB – Ezri Konsa – 4/10 – Struggled with Liverpool’s dynamic runners.
CB – Diego Carlos – N/A – Left injured in 20 minutes.
CB – Pau Torres – 2/10 – It was tough against Nunez. A forgettable game.
RWB – Matty Cash – 3/10 – From last week’s FPL dream to this week’s FPL nightmare. His own goal shows his FPL figures to drop sharply in the international break.
CM – Boubacar Kamara – 4/10 – Couldn’t make his presence felt.
CM – Douglas Luiz – 4/10 – Traveler.
LWB – Lucas Digne – 5/10 – One good cross in the second half. It really was. RAM – Moussa Diaby – 4/10 – Barely touched the ball.
LAM – John McGinn – 4/10 – Didn’t do enough either side of the ball.
ST – Ollie Watkins – 4/10 – Very quiet.
Substitutes
SUB – Leon Bailey (20 for Carlos) – 2/10 – Substitute brought back from the field. Need we say more? SUB – Nicolo Zaniolo (’64 for Bailey) – 4/10 – He didn’t try very hard.
SUB – Jhon Duran (’73 for Watkins) – 5/10 – At least I tried.
SUB – Youri Tielemans (’73 for Luiz) – N/A.
The driver
Unai Emery – 4/10 – Changed his formation after 20 minutes when he realized his tactics weren’t working. The lineup he moved to didn’t work out either.
