OLIN’S REPORT Make it three wins in a row as Liverpool
Liverpool made it three Premier League wins in a row by beating Aston Villa 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s first
Liverpool made it three Premier League wins in a row by beating Aston Villa 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s first goal for the Reds – an emphatic pass from 18 yards – put the home team on their way in the opening minute.
That was followed by a Matty Cash own goal which Darwin Nunez hit the post in the first half and Mohamed Salah added a third for Jurgen Klopp’s side after Nunez saved from the break.
Team news
Nunez was forced into attack after scoring last weekend’s match-winner, while Joe Gomez replaced the suspended and Curtis Jones started in midfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold wore the captain’s armband.
Nunez was forced into attack after scoring last weekend’s match-winner, while Joe Gomez replaced the suspended and Curtis Jones started in midfield.
Trent Alexander-Arnold wore the captain’s armband.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Quansah, 71), Gomez, Matip, Robertson, Mac Allister (Endo, 87), Jones (Elliott, 65), Szoboszlai, Diaz (Jota, 65), Salah, Nunez (Gakpo, 65 ) ) ) ).
Unused subs: Kelleher, Tsimikas, Bajcetic, Doak.
The first half
The Reds came to Anfield on a sunny afternoon looking for a third consecutive Premier League win. And they made the perfect start.
Alexander-Arnold’s corner kick from the right was only partially cleared, and Szoboszlai met a loose ball with the sweetest of connections on the edge of the box and whipped the first goal into the right post.
The home side needed intervention in their own half from Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson as Villa tried to respond, while Ezri Konsa blocked Luis Diaz after Alexander-Arnold’s cross.
The Reds were good value for their lead and it could have been three half an hour ago. Joel Matip spurned a brilliant chance after Alexander-Arnold was tackled.
John McGinn fired high over the Kop at the end of Villa’s counter-attack and Konsa then got in the way of Nunez’s shot.
The prospect came true as half-time approached and a well-placed Ollie Watkins deflected wide when Lucas Digne’s cross from the left was brought down by McGinn.
Seconds later, Nunez and Salah combined to avoid offside, the latter playing in the forward’s shot from a narrowing angle that hit the bar. Villa survived before Diaz could jump. Second half
Both sides threatened very similarly soon after the restart.
First, the Reds needed Alisson Becker to save Cash’s shot from his goal line when the Villa man connected with Digne’s cross from the left.
When the latter exploded, the hosts were freed by Salah, and after the Egyptian’s run to Nunez in the offside, the striker nodded just wide of the far post.
But the same pair combined to make it three for their team in the 55th minute. Nunez headed in Robertson’s corner from the right and Salah made no mistake from close range.
A trio of changes later saw Klopp send on Harvey Elliott, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota.
Alexander-Arnold hit a fine solo effort from his own half to hit a long-range effort too high before limping off with injury.
Emiliano Martinez deflected the corner past the ever-dangerous Salah and the rebound led to Elliott’s shot narrowly wide for a corner.
However, Liverpool have already done enough to win their third of four in the Premier League this season, but now the international break has followed.
