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On a four match losing streak in the Premier League, Liverpool were in desperate need of a positive result as they hosted Aston Villa at Anfield.
Having fielded a second string as Liverpool exited the League Cup to Crystal Palace, Arne Slot returned largely to the side that lost to Brentford, making three changes as Andy Robertson, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister replaced Milos Kerkez, Curtis Jones and Florian Wirtz.
Unai Emery made just one change to the team that beat Manchester City, as Evann Guessand replaced Emiliano Buendia.
Right from the off this was a massive improvement from the Reds. Liverpool have finally had more options in midfield in recent matches, only to waste them by passing the ball so slowly. Here though, they were moving it much quicker, often with only one touch, enabling them to progress the ball forward quickly rather than allowing the opposition to shift across. We even saw some switches of play.
This quicker passing was perhaps encouraged by Villa, as the away side started the game pressing high.
It didn’t work though. Liverpool would form a back three, requiring Guessand to step up to Robertson to stop the frontline getting outnumbered, but even so, Ollie Watkins appeared concerned with Gravenberch in midfield, so he wouldn’t get out to Ibrahima Konaté quick enough to stop him playing forward, ensuring Liverpool played around Villa’s press.
Villa began to drop off into a mid-block instead, but Liverpool were still having success progressing the ball.
Mohamed Salah was looking particularly bright. The quicker passing meant he was receiving the ball early enough to isolate Lucas Digne, and the Frenchman’s aggressive attempts to get close to Salah saw the Egyptian spin away from him. On top of this, both Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai were making runs in support of him, giving him passing options and decoy runs to open up space.
Liverpool were also having more success with their pressing. They started the game in a slightly more zonal variation of the 4-3-1-2 shape they have often used this season. Salah would take up a position to cover both Pau Torres and Digne, while on the opposite flank Cody Gakpo would sometimes come inside to partner Szoboszlai, with the Dutchman picking up Boubacar Kamara. When the ball was played out to that side though, Gakpo would move wide to track Matty Cash, while Mac Allister would step up to mark Kamara.
This half-zonal half-man system didn’t quite work though. With Salah often drawn forward to Torres, Digne was left free, requiring Bradley to step out to meet him and leaving space behind.
Liverpool’s midfielders were often caught in no man’s land too, pushing forward to pick up Villa’s deeper midfielders, but not fully committing because they were concerned about Morgan Rogers behind them. The result was that they wouldn’t put enough pressure on the midfielders to stop them turning out, but they also weren’t in positions to stop Rogers either.
Liverpool soon corrected this though. Rather than having Salah press Torres, it was now left to Szoboszlai to step up from midfield to pressure the defender, which allowed Salah to focus on Digne, while deep in midfield, Robertson would come inside to pick up Rogers, allowing the midfielders to fully commit to pressing.
These changes allowed Liverpool to really up their intensity, forcing Villa into errors. Seeing their work was paying off, this encouraged Liverpool to up their intensity further.
This wasn’t perfect – Villa reacted to this pressure by playing over the top of it, winning the second balls to get on the attack – however it was much better and Liverpool looked more confident than they have for quite some time.
This high pressure saw its reward just before half-time. Under pressure from Liverpool’s forwards, a sloppy pass by Emiliano Martinez was pounced upon by Salah, who finished first time with his weaker right foot into the empty net.
Liverpool would continue to press high in the second half, however they were also now happy to sit back in a 4-4-2 and ask Villa to come to them.
One slight issue was them sometimes not staying compact, leaving space between their lines for Villa to exploit. This was often caused by Hugo Ekitiké stepping up to press rather than holding his position, seeing Mac Allister step up to pick up the midfielder and leaving space behind him. For the most part, Villa had little to offer though.
Liverpool doubled their lead twelve minutes into the half. High pressure saw Villa send the ball long, but Liverpool won the second ball. Villa’s midfielders were drawn towards Gakpo and Mac Allister, leaving Gravenberch free to receive the ball behind them, given enough time to control the ball and shoot.
Liverpool would easily hold out to defend their lead for the rest of the game.
Unlike the victory over Frankfurt, this win felt like it was born out of positive changes from Liverpool, rather than just poor defending from opponents. Real Madrid and Manchester City will likely pose tougher challenges this week, and whether Liverpool’s pressure will hold up against teams more comfortable on the ball remains to be seen, but the Reds should rightly feel more confident for having put in this performance.
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