Liverpool won the fourth match of the Premier League season, welcoming Aston Villa to Anfield with a steady performance from start to finish. Dominik Szoboszlai struck a powerful goal early on, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long pass broke down and led to an own goal for the visitors.
After taking a two-goal lead in the first half, Mohamed Salah calmly pushed home the ball from a corner kick in the 55th minute after Darwin Nunez had touched the ball.
The visitors were not without danger on the counter, but Joel Matip and Joe Gomez remained tenacious and kept the attack at bay.
Ibrahima Konate went off injured. With Virgil van Dijk suspended due to a red card in the previous game, the reserves who were entrusted with an important match played well.
Despite the gap, Jurgen Klopp was pleased with former England defender Joe Gomez, who showed signs of resurgence.
“Both centre-halves played an exceptional game. With different jobs, to be honest. Diaby hiding in midfield on a nine-and-a-half, 10 position. So Joey had to step in there. Leaves Joel in a one-v-one with Ollie Watkins.”
“As much as I love Joel, I think we know that Ollie Watkins might be a bit quicker than Joel and he did that really, really well. The boys in front of them knew about that fact so they were really in the situation in the counter-pressing moments.”
“Until the 2-0 it was outstanding, then because of the intensity of the way we played, stuff like this, you could see the front line settled slightly higher. That is human but not helpful in these moments so we didn’t have exactly the same grip. But top performance really.”
“And Joey – I’m really pleased for him. Against Newcastle, by the way, it was like that already, to be honest, when he came on. It looked really like that. It’s very helpful when you have strong centre-halves, but if you leave them alone then the pitch is too big to defend.”
“Today we were really together, really compact, the commitment was top-class and that’s why we played the way we played.”
Liverpoolfc.com
A former Charlton defender with an injury history that made it difficult for him to compete throughout the season, his performances were often inconsistent and he dropped down the pecking order after the 2019-20 season.
This season, he is expected to be a reserve right back, and his appearances will certainly increase.
This is a great opportunity for him to get back into the regular lineup, and he will be looking to make the most of this opportunity and return to the England national team.