Match Report: Liverpool 2 - Aston Villa 0

Match Day: Saturday 1st November 2025 (8pm)

Liverpool Scorers:

Mohamad Salah (45+1)

Gravenberch (58)

Lineups: Mamardashvili, Van Dijk, Konate, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Bradley, Gakpo, Ekitike, Robertson, Gravenberch.

Match Report:

I have not reviewed the exit from the Carabao Cup midweek where we deliberately decided to lose to Crystal Palace by fielding a mixed team that everyone knew would not be good enough against the opposition lineup - I mean what would be the point of that other than to abuse our team ? - but I get the reasons why Slot lined up with that under-strength team given injuries and the need to rest some of the regular first-teamers.  For those that are upset with the measures Slot took - use your senses and you will understand that given our losing streak - it is not a good time to field this game with first team regulars if we are to have any hope of competing for the league or champions league.

The build up to this game has been all about the noise surrounding Slot's future at this club, if he loses then there is a section of the fanbase that want him gone; if he wins - then lets see.  Given FSG's history - it would be unlikely for them to make a mid-season sacking of a manager unless we were languishing in 17th in March.  Slot has credit and should be given the chance to adapt the new signings - further it needs to be argued that it looks bad because of the latest sequence of matches has meant we have lost 6/7 games - but still we are entering November ONLY 7 points behind the league leaders Arsenal.  Now is no time to panic over the manager's future and start quoting the names of managers from yesteryear and passed it.  If anything we need Slot more than ever, because he is one of the few managers in this league who is willing to change the team structure and setup without being set on a specific setup and way of playing, and right now Liverpool need to figure that out.

This game against Aston Villa demonstrated that Slot is not a stubborn manager, the starting lineup consisted mainly of last seasons first -teamers with the exception of Ekitike. In summary Liverpool throughout this game played without the arrogance, in the sense that they did not go gung-ho carelessly against Villa.  The return of Gravenberch was most welcome, and Mac Allister showed signs of his old self but running the show in this game was Domonic Szoboszlai - his running, covering and link up play with the Liverpool attack was exceptional throughout the game.  Mohamad Salah, also showed signs of his old-self, there was a lot more running and successful dribbles against his Villa opponent Lucas Digne, and it became a special game for him as he scored his 250th goal for Liverpool (the 3rd Liverpool player to achieve that) after a miss-kick/pass by the Villa goalkeeper Emilliano Martinez, it was not an easy goal despite the circumstances and good fortune.  

The overall passing and movement was quicker for the duration of the game, and the defending was all about cutting out any high XG chances for Villa, to the point that their best opportunities came from long distance shots which were well dealt by Mamardashvili and sometimes brilliantly.  The defence did not look like it would concede a goal, the team defended as an organized unit - for the first time since the Arsenal game at home.  Robertson's return to the team was much appreciated, and none of the social media channels had any complaints to make, firstly on Robertson's inclusion and secondly his overall performance; on this performance, Kerkez may find it hard to get back into the side.  There were none of those high risk moments where Villa could clear our last line in transition with a clear way to the Liverpool goal, there was always cover provided by Bradley (who had a good game), Szoboszlai and Gravenberch alongside Virgil and Konate.  

Although in the end this was a comfortable and much needed win for Liverpool, there were a couple of worrying observations.  The first being Ekitike, he had moments where he showed some of his skills in tight situations that had the crowd cheering, he also had a disallowed headed goal due to being offside, but other than those incidents he was very quiet and was not effective during the game, not unlike his performance against Brentford last week.  The second worrying observation was the introduction of Wirtz late in the second half in place of Ekitike.  In my own view - I was happy that Wirtz did not come onto replace any of our three starting midfielders, but in those final stages the team appeared to lose a bit of control when Wirtz came on.  But the larger implication of that substitution is that maybe now - Slot also feels that the Liverpool midfield cannot function in transitions if Wirtz is part of a midfield three.  It also seems that there is a choice to be made in future games, perhaps Wirtz cannot play if Salah plays.  One to think about - but for now - I think Liverpool will just take the first premier league win in five!!!