Liverpool vs Aston Villa players rating

Unai Emery made two changes to the side that was thrashed by Tottenham last weekend, as the injured Matty Cash dropped out for Diego Carlos and Leon Bailey surprisingly started in place of John McGinn.

Emery went into the match with a clear game plan to fearlessly play through the thirds and break on the counter-attack.

This worked in the opening exchanges but their hard work in the opening 20 minutes was undone when Liverpool broke devastatingly from a corner after Aston Villa committed too many bodies forward.

Leon Bailey was lucky not to get sent off after bringing down Mohamed Salah when he was bearing down on goal however, the referee played advantage and Darwin Nunez pounced onto the loose ball before finishing into the roof of the net.

Liverpool’s lead was perhaps deserved on the balance of play, although Villa looked threatening themselves, as Caiomhin Kelleher produced an outstanding save to deny Amadou Onana’s bullet header on the stroke of half-time.

In the second period, the Villans sat more in a compact shape and tried to stop the Reds from playing through the thirds, and looked dangerous on the counter.

Villa should have perhaps been awarded a penalty when Pau Torres had his shirt pulled by Conor Bradley in the box but David Coote was having none of it.

Aston Villa player ratings vs Liverpool
Emi Martinez – 6
In truth, Martinez couldn’t do much about the two goals he conceded and the Argentine would have been disappointed with how open his side were for both.

Ezri Konsa – 6
Luis Diaz caused Konsa problems throughout the game, although the Englishman stood his ground as usual and enjoyed a fiercely contested battle against the Colombian. He produced an outstanding double tackle to stop Liverpool from scoring towards the end.

Diego Carlos – 4
Found the intensity of playing against top-level opposition tough at times and made a mistake for Salah’s goal.

Pau Torres – 6
Made a vital block on the stroke of halftime to prevent Nunez from tapping the ball into an empty net. Pau was his usual reliable self against tough opposition and sprayed several quality passes into midfield.

Lucas Digne – 7
Digne had his work cut out defensively, dealing with the irrepressible Salah. When given the chance to maraud forward, though, the Frenchman put in many tantalising crosses into the box and deserved to at least grab an assist.

Youri Tielemans – 5
Emery confirmed that Tielemans had pain in his knee before the game and he played like someone who needed a rest. Liverpool’s midfield was able to run rings around him and he looked a bit lethargic in and out of possession, which is unlike him.

Amadou Onana – 6
Forced the Liverpool keeper into a top save towards the end of the first half, stopping his bullet header. Aside from coming close to scoring, the Belgian powerhouse was solid and dependable off the ball but was often slack in possession.

Leon Bailey – 5
Bailey was very lucky not to be shown a straight red card before Liverpool opened the scoring. As has often been the case this season, the Jamaican was often wasteful in possession and Villa could ill-afford to be just that.

Morgan Rogers – 6
Unsurprisingly played a key role for Villa on the break and had a great chance to score just after halftime but skewed his shot wide of the target. Liverpool’s defence couldn’t with him at times and perhaps they could have fed him the ball more.

Jacob Ramsey – 7
A constant threat on the counter-attack, utilising his pace and power to drive his forward in the left channel. Sadly, he was taken off just before halftime with an injury as John McGinn replaced him.

Ollie Watkins – 6
Watkins was feeding off scraps for most of the game, as Villa found it hard to break down Liverpool’s organised shape. When he did have space to drive into on the break, Konate often got the better of him physically.