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That was a terrible, horrible game, nothing good, very bad. From the beginning, Aston Villa was all over Liverpool with high pressure and fast counterattacks. A gift from Adrian gave Villa the upper hand, but a combination of chaotic defense and ridiculous deflections quickly turned the game into a caricature of a match.
Join us as we try to separate the narrative from the reality of the match and how it all ended in the end.
Winners
Andrew Robertson
Somehow, despite allowing seven goals on the day, Andy Robertson was one of the bright spots for Liverpool. The Scottish defender was a constant threat coming up the left wing and hitting several tantalizing balls through the goal. He also had a well-saved laser shot to keep him off the score sheet.
Diogo Jota
The Portuguese attacker found himself starting out when Sadio Mane was out after contracting the coronavirus. Jota was a live wire, pairing well with Robertson on the left flank. He also found himself in dangerous positions for much of the first half, getting a decent amount of touches in and around the area.
Mohamed salah
The Egyptian striker didn’t get too many looks on goal, but he made no mistakes where he did, burying two pretty shots. He also has 3 key passes and a passing percentage of 90%.
Ollie watkins
The English forward made a great signing for Aston Villa a few weeks ago, and today he was a real dynamo. He scored a hat trick, slammed another shot off the crossbar and also provided an assist.
The gods of chaos
Look, Liverpool made a lot of mistakes today and Aston Villa deserved the win. The ridiculousness of the scoreboard, however, was somewhat difficult to describe. Three of the seven goals came from large deflections on shots from outside the area, which I have never personally seen in a game before.
Losers
Jose Gomez
Joe Gomez had an absolute nightmare game. His positioning was poor, he missed tackles left and right, and had several costly turnovers. He’s had a really good game this nascent season, and several average to bad games. Hopefully some competition from Joel Matip will help get Gomez back on track.
Adrian
Okay, let’s start with the obvious. The pass to nobody that led to the first goal was just awful. Adrian is definitely not as comfortable with the ball on his feet as Alisson, and he panicked under some pressure. Beyond that, Liverpool suffers playing high line with Adrian behind. Last week, Audun wrote a great article on how effective Liverpool’s aggressive defensive line is, but how it relies on having a proactive goalkeeper behind defense. Adrián is not that goalkeeper, he is a shot stopper who stays at home. For those looking for a new backup guardian, they just need to realize that these types of guardians are in short supply and therefore expensive, so finding a “better” backup than Adrian would be extremely expensive and unlikely.
Fabinho and Naby Keita
While there were many defensive failures at the rear, many of the problems started in midfield. Fabinho and Keita were caught multiple times without tracking the runners when Aston Villa players passed them on the counter. That led to overloaded defensive lines and several clear opportunities.
Roberto Firmino
I love Bobby Firmino. It has not been very good to start the season. Sure, I would love for him to score more goals, but it’s his touch inside the box that worries me the most. He was at the end of several balls in dangerous areas early in the game, and he flipped the ball most of the time. He still does a lot of dirty work, and his movement and understanding of space are fantastic, but he has to start connecting with others or hitting the target.
Credit to the opposition
Dean Smith spoke before the game saying that his team respected but did not fear Liverpool. Taking a page from Marco Bielsa and Leeds, he set up his team to put pressure on Liverpool across the field. From the first whistle, Aston Villa pushed aggressively, leading Liverpool to beat them in the press. Liverpool were sloppy with possession and Villa was quick and decisive on the counter. After screeching past in a relegation battle last season, Aston Villa have been the perfect start to this new season and they appear to be a tough team to play against.
What happens next
A dreaded international hiatus begins, as many Liverpool players will address their national teams. Hopefully the players can avoid injuries and contract the coronavirus, as the first game back is against the top of the table.
