It was far from entertaining, but Liverpool had another three points in their quest for a record-breaking Premier League points, beating Aston Villa at Anfield.
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
Premier League (33), Anfield
July 5, 2020
Goals: Mane 71 ′, Jones 89 ′
Main Man Mane
Before closing, the conversation about the potential player of the year was a lot about Jordan Henderson, who was seen as the favorite for the Player of the year.
But for him best Player, Liverpool supporters would have largely voted Sadio Mane as their Player of the Year.
The Reds’ No. 10 was the one who sought to provide the momentum in an extremely flat first half, often playing the role of left-back and center-back attacker given Divock Origi’s lack of quality.
And it was Mane who provided the decisive goal, finishing beyond Pepe Reina to claim his twentieth goal of the season in all competitions.
There have been many who have contributed to Liverpool’s title success this season, but perhaps none more than Mane, the player who helped and scored in Villa’s absolutely vital final victory in November.
What does Divock do?
The only striking part of the Divock Origi presentation was his new hairstyle.
Perhaps Jurgen Klopp expected the Belgian to draw the attention of potential suitors, playing Origi before Takumi Minamino instead of Roberto Firmino.
But in 63 minutes on the field, Origi offered very, very little. No shots, no dribbles, absolutely nothing of note. If this was an opportunity to claim that she would stay at Anfield this summer, it failed. If it was an opportunity to get the attention of an observant manager, it failed miserably.
On a day when Rhian Brewster returned to search for the city of Swansea, Origi’s time in Anfield seems one step closer to ending. We all know why Klopp loved Timo Werner this summer, and this demo underscores this even more.
Quality depth of attack beyond the top three is absolutely essential this summer. A cult hero due to his heroics in the Champions League last season, but far from the quality required.
Midfield creativity
Speaking of transfers, the name of Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago has been on fans’ lips for the past 48 hours and this game signaled why his creativity could be something that Klopp would like to add to his team.
It was an opportunity for Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the latter in particular struggled to make an impact. Oxlade tried some balls slashed on top, something Thiago is known for, but they couldn’t get out.
Keita did more and it was his good pass that provided assistance for Mane’s first game.
Subs win prizes
One of the benefits of the five sub-sub rule of thumb is the ability to do three subs in one performance, with the assurance that you can still make more changes if an injury occurs.
That’s exactly what Klopp did on the hour, replacing the ineffective trio of Origi, Oxlade, and Fabinho with Henderson, Wijaldum, and Firmino.
It means the game can be changed from the bank quite effectively and it was nice to see that it pays dividends here.
That triple submarine was followed by Curtis Jones’ late cameo and the league’s first goal in the last minute.
Rotation ahead
It was a surprise to see Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson start and with two more games this week, each is likely to be rotated in one of those games in Brighton and at Burnley’s home.
Neco Williams was back on the bench, making perhaps Brighton on Wednesday ideal for his first league start, while James Milner should be back in top form to allow Robertson to rest in one of those games.
Jones had a good performance the day after signing a new long-term contract, needing two more appearances now to qualify for a Premier League winners medal. We were able to see the Scouser start their first league in the coming weeks.
Klopp made just three changes to this starting lineup and we should probably expect more than that in these next two games.
Four wins from the last five games are required to break the Premier League total points record.
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