Szoboszlai and Salah on target as Liverpool thrash Villa
Reds boss Jürgen Klopp was celebrating his 300th PL game in charge, with the German’s summer rebuild taking shape after a decent start to the season.
It was therefore fitting that it was one of his new signings, Dominik Szoboszlai, who opened the scoring after a relentless Reds start. The Hungarian struck a pearler on the half volley after a whipped corner came to his feet from the edge of the box.
With Anfield in full voice, the hosts continued to pull apart the Villa backline through a high press and electric frontline.
Villa were powerless to prevent one becoming two in the 22nd minute after Mohamed Salah released Darwin Núñez, with the striker’s effort rebounding off the post and back in off an unfortunate Matty Cash.
It was not all one way traffic however and Villa’s best chance of the half came when Joe Gomez, filling in for suspended centre-back Virgil van Dijk, lost the ball in a dangerous area, though John McGinn could only fire over from close range.
After triumphing in successive PL games with 10 men, Liverpool’s campaign has largely been a story of bouncing back from adversity, so Klopp will likely have been relieved to watch his Reds at full strength.
They should have been three ahead just minutes into the second half when Núñez inexplicably failed to find the net from 6 yards out after a fine Salah cross.
The Egyptian would ensure his side’s third goal himself soon after however, tapping in from Núñez’s front post header to mark the 11th straight game at Anfield in which he has scored or assisted - a Liverpool record.
The Reds second-half dominance may have meant a bigger scoreline on another day, and with the visitors never able to truly get a foothold in the contest, Liverpool eased to a victory which saw them move into third place in the PL standings.
A bad day at the office for Unai Emery’s men, but after recently sailing through to the UEFA Conference League group stages, there is still plenty to be optimistic about for Villa fans.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool)
