Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

All of the action in Liverpool’s 2-0 victory against Aston Villa to pull five points ahead in the Premier League.

Liverpool 2 - 0 Aston Villa

Liverpool: Nunez 19’, Salah 85’

Pre-Match

Darwin Nunez and Andy Robertson return to the starting XI today after both started on the bench midweek against Bayer Leverkusen. Goal scoring hero Luis Diaz is back on the wing to support him.

First Half

The Reds start out strong at Anfield, clearly looking to grab three points and go five clear of Manchester City at the top of the table. They are starting out attacking the Kop, so let’s see if they can make the first 45 count.

There’s an early penalty shout when Nunez got brought down in the box. Maybe he was just taking a wee nap? It’s a late start, after all, and with the time change, I know I’m exhausted by 8PM.

Massive, sliding block from Ryan Gravenberch a few minutes later denied Villa their first good chance of the game. Good to see the Dutchman continue his ascension this season.

Liverpool get first blood about 20 minutes in. It started as an Aston Villa corner, but Salah took control and flew down the other end. He was brought down by Bailey as he charged, but got the ball to Nunez, who drilled it home. It is simply wild that Bailey did not even receive a yellow card for taking out the Salah, when it very likely could have been a red card and sending off.

Bad news struck moments later when Trent Alexander-Arnold went down with injury. He needed to be exchanged for Conor Bradley after only 25 minutes played.

They very nearly remade the same goal twice, with Salah escaping down the wing and getting a pass off to Nunez. However, this time, one v one with the keeper, Nunez blasted it over the bar.

Aston Villa were very content to play defense and wait for the opportunity to break forward. Where they showed some danger was on corners, where they had their closest opportunities. Kelleher was forced into making three crucial saves from only two corners, once again showing his class as Liverpool’s trusted number two.

Nunez clearly wanted to match Diaz’s hat trick from midweek. He was hungry for another goal. His next effort was a cracker of a shot, unfortunately aimed right at the stomach of the Villa keeper.

Second Half

Aston Villa started off the second half with a good chance, but Rogers couldn’t direct his shot on target.

There was a VAR check to see if Bradley had fouled a Villa player inside the box. Luckily, no foul was given. The way I would have flipped this table I’m writing on if Villa were awarded a penalty when Liverpool weren’t in the last half.

Nunez did not lose his desire to score over the break. He once again tried a header, but it went wide of the mark. Unfortunately, he couldn’t grab a second, as he and and Curtis Jones got taken off at 65 minutes. In their places were Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Gakpo did a great job controlling Robertson’s lofted pass, but his resulting shot was high.

On a Villa fast break, Diaz sprinted up from the other end of the pitch, made up the distance, and disrupted the attack from behind, pick Philogene’s pocket. Quite a let off, as Villa have revved up their attack in the last 15 minutes or so to try and grab a point.

Liverpool counter again, this time with Gakpo getting the ball to Salah, who passed it off to the onrushing Diaz. It was a gorgeous pass, but maybe just half a yard too far for Diaz, who couldn’t control it before it was nudged away.

Who else but Mo Salah got the clincher at 84 minutes? And how else than through yet another counterattack? This time, Salah does the whole job himself, gaining control of the ball and charging down the field. He had two players in the center to support him, but instead he went up the wing and slotted it into the near corner to make it 2-0.

Wataru Endo replaced Alexis Mac Allister to see out the rest of the game.

Final Thoughts

Lovely clean sheet to send the team off into the international break. With City’s loss earlier in the day, Liverpool are now five points clear at the top of the table. Liverpool, Liverpool, top of the league!