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23 min: Big chance for Szoboszlai!
Szoboszlai does superbly to read a return pass towards Pau Torres just outside the area, nick the ball and run through on goal. But his left-foot finish is tame and Martinez falls to his right to save.
22 min At the other end, Salah shoots over from the edge of the D. This is great fun.
21 min Rogers swerves majestically away from Gravenberch and curls a shot towards goal from 25 yards. Mamardashvili dives to his right to push it away – a comfortable save, certainly compared to the last one, but a thrilling run from Rogers.
19 min: Superb save by Mamardashvili!
Cash wallops a shot from a ludicrous angle that takes a nick off Van Dijk and flies towards the top corner. Mamardashvili leaps high to his left and fingertips the ball onto the outside of the post and behind for a corner. That’s a great stop, the kind Mamardashvili made every few minutes (or so it seemed) at Euro 2024.
18 min Good spell this for Liverpool, with the crowd finding their voice again. Salah slips Digne expertly, then cuts inside and crosses towards Gakpo at the far post. He heads back across goal and Ekitike can’t reach the the ball on the stretch. It came at an awkward height.
Seconds later, Szoboszlai’s clever looping header finds Robertson, whose sidefoot volley from the edge of the area deflects through to Martinez.
15 min Szoboszlai, 25 yards out, hits a sweet strike that goes a few yards past the left-hand post. It wasn’t too far wide but Martinez was comfortable and barely even looked at the ball.
13 min Salah plays a superb pass to the underlapping Bradley, whose cutback is crucially cut out at the near post by Torres. Excellent positioning.
12 min Watkins looks lively and is pulling to the left at every opportunity, with McGinn and Rogers supporting him on that side. One such run leads to a throw-in high up the pitch. Digne takes it short, gets it back and swings a cross that is headed away by Van Dijk.
9 min Szoboszlai’s cross from the right is headed away as far as Robertson. He tries to whip a cross back towards Salah but overhits it. It’s been a fun, fast start to the game.
5 min: Rogers hits the post!
Morgan Rogers, just inside the area to the left of centre, whips a shot that thumps the far post and rebounds to safety. A brilliant effort from Rogers, who had also started the move with a superb long pass out to Watkins.
4 min The away end cheer lustily when the ball rolls out of play after Gakpo fails to control a crossfield pass from Konate.
2 min Gravenberch’s shot from distance is blocked on the edge of the area. Liverpool, as you’d expect, have come flying out of the traps.
1 min Aston Villa, in white, kick off from left to right as we watch. Great atmosphere at Anfield.
On the ball – guess the footballer
The Guardian (that’s us, folks) has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
“I’m on the train with a bunch of Pompey lads who wont get home ‘til about midnight after a 4-0 shellacking at St Andrew’s,” writes Gary Naylor. “That they’re in good spirits and planning another away day to Hull, speaks to the irrational nature of the football fan, the game a largely safe space for an otherwise dangerous indulgence.
“That irrationality wants Liverpool to be in crisis, loves the prospect of the inquests in the morning, the phone-ins that will demand his Slot’s head on a stick and Salah and Van Dijk to be sold in January. It’s childish and all but indefensible - but millions of us feel like this!”
Dear Liverpool fans, Gary’s contact details are available for a small fee.
All set? This could be a cracker. I’m predicting Liverpool 4-3 Aston Villa.
A reminder of the teams
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Subs: Woodman, Pecsi, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Wirtz, Chiesa, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Kamara; Guessand, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Maatsen, Lindelof, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Malen, Broggio.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
“Yeah, Liverpool were top of the league a few weeks ago, but in all honesty, they weren’t playing a huge amount better then than they are now,” writes Matt Dony. “That mad run of late winners wasn’t sustainable. Sometimes a team has good luck, sometimes they have bad luck, and you just have to hope it all evens out.
“This group of players is too good to be this mediocre for a long period, things will certainly click into place at some point. But I fear it may not be enough. I worry that (already) the title may be gone. The psychological impact of this spell will likely linger, for both Liverpool AND Arsenal.
“Still, a few pride-restoring wins in the short term would be a big help. And, hey, if not tonight, there’s always Real Madrid and Man City to come in the next few days. What could possibly go wrong…”
The Premier League table going into tonight’s game
Liverpool (10th) and Villa (11th) will jump to third if they win. It’s like snakes and bloody ladders.
Premier League result: Spurs 0-1 Chelsea
Joao Pedro’s goal gave Chelsea victory at Spurs – but they could have won by four or five. Scott Murray is following that one.
Arne Slot makes three changes from last Saturday’s defeat at Brentford. Andy Robertson replaces the struggling Milos Kerkez at left-back; Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister come in for Curtis Jones and Florian Wirtz.
Just one changed to the Villa side that beat Manchester City: Evann Guessand comes in for the injured Emi Buendia.
Team news
Liverpool (4-2-3-1) Mamardashvili; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike.
Subs: Woodman, Pecsi, Gomez, Endo, Kerkez, Wirtz, Chiesa, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1) Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Pau, Digne; Onana, Kamara; Guessand, Rogers, McGinn; Watkins.
Subs: Bizot, Maatsen, Lindelof, Mings, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Malen, Broggio.
Referee Stuart Attwell.
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said the Liverpool hierarchy share his views on the reasons for the team’s slump and he will not abandon an attacking style in search of a way out. The head coach admitted that six defeats in seven games was unacceptable before Aston Villa’s visit on Saturday and denied making excuses for Liverpool’s worst domestic run in 72 years.
Slot accepted the pressure was on before his makeshift team exited the Carabao Cup against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. That pressure to arrest the slide, however, is not, he insisted, coming from Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, FSG’s chief executive of football, Michael Edwards, or the sporting director, Richard Hughes, after a summer transfer outlay of almost £450m.
Preamble
In a dim, distant past – five and a bit weeks ago – Liverpool were top of the Premier League, 12 points clear of 18th-placed Aston Villa. Now the two clubs are level on points, snuggled together in mid-table.
Villa’s recovery is a reminder that things change very quickly in football; that bad patches are almost unavoidable and you just have to ride them out. Easier said than done, especially when you:
a) are the reigning champions
b) are one of the biggest clubs in the world
c) spent eye-watering wonga in the summer and
d) exist in a culture that has gone completely mad
The good news for Arne Slot is that there’s a simple solution: if Liverpool win tonight, the bloodlustful masses will look elsewhere. At least until the next game.
Kick off 8pm.
