1. Trend reversal in Liverpool
Liverpool did not perform well when away from Anfield. The Reds have only one away win in the Premier League before making the trip to Villa Park. That day at Tottenham Hotspur, it was Mohamed Salah who broke the deadlock and he just did the same against Aston Villa.
After only 5 minutes of rolling the ball, the Egyptian star hit the home team’s net after receiving an assist from Andrew Robertson. Salah’s goal helped Liverpool reverse the trend of slow starts this season.
Instead of the image of letting the opponent break the deadlock, Liverpool went through a series of 3 matches leading in the Premier League. In 3 matches, no confrontation Liverpool opened the score after 11 minutes.
Salah and Robertson both made an impression against Villa.
2. The bucket broke the record
By scoring at Villa Park, Salah has pocketed 172 goals for the club, an achievement that helps him equal the record of legendary Kenny Dalglish.
Meanwhile, Robertson hit 54 assists after the recent victory. He officially surpassed the once famous Everton and Premier League star Leighton Baines to become the defender with the most goals.
3. Van Dijk makes an impressive comeback
Having just returned to Liverpool from the 2022 World Cup, Virgil van Dijk was not ranked as the main kick against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup in the middle of last week. Van Dijk’s absence caused Liverpool’s defense to play indiscriminately, thereby receiving 3 goals against the Etihad Stadium team.
Therefore, it is not surprising that The Kop’s defense plays better when the Dutch midfielder returns. Worth mentioning, the former Southampton star also left a strong mark by scoring twice the difference in the first half.
From Salah’s mid-range release in the corner, Van Dijk hit the corner with his non-dominant foot, making the home team’s keeper stuck.
4. The charm of Watkins
After many efforts (including a moment to hit Liverpool but was flagged offside), Ollie Watkins also found a goal for himself. Exploiting the gap between Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Watkins cleverly caught the drop from his teammates’ cross and headed home.
Notably, Watkins has owned the 5th goal against Liverpool after many matches, an achievement that shows how charming the English star is in finding his way to the goal of The Kop.
Even more worrying for Liverpool is that they have kept just one clean sheet away from home in the Premier League this season. It was a goalless draw at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby against Everton.
5. 2 sides Nunez
Darwin Nunez again made Liverpool fans bored because of his bad finishing ability. Uruguay striker owns 6 shots. 4/6 of those shots were on target, but the former Benfica player could not score.
Nunez does everything well except scoring.
In return, despite the bad finish, Nunez proved to be beneficial in the movement, speeding and contributing to his teammates opening the barrel. It is thanks to the effort to “press the gas”, taking advantage of the long stride advantage that Nunez helps the prodigy Stefan Bajcetic “open an account” in the Liverpool shirt.
That goal helped Bajcetic (18 years and 65 days) become the second youngest Spaniard to score in Premier League history (after Cesc Fabregas with 17 years and 113 days).
Lu Feng | 06:31 December 27, 2022
