Liverpool are five points clear at the top of the Premier League after a strong showing on and off the pitch led to a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
Premier League (11) | Anfield
November 9, 2024
Goals: Nunez 19′, Salah 84′
Anfield crowd sense the moment
What’s better than an Anfield match under the lights? One which comes half an hour after your closest rivals have been beaten.
Man City managing to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at Brighton in the evening kick-off gave the Reds a chance to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League in the nighttime game – and as if the players didn’t already know that, the fans certainly let them know about it.
This was about the loudest and most raucous Anfield has been for a league game thus far, the Kop and co clearly sensing a massive opportunity and being keen that their team took it.
It wasn’t just in the songs and chants either, but in letting the ref know every time Emi Martinez was taking ten minutes over a goal kick and anything else which was approaching a 50-50 decision.
Compare the starting tempo of this game to others this term and it’s clear the players responded in kind.
Trent’s injury, Bradley excels
This has been far from the worst season we’ve endured in terms of injuries in the squad, but even so the depth has been hit somewhat at times by the same area of the pitch having absences.
Thankfully in one regard, defence doesn’t come into that category right now; less pleasing on the other hand is that there’s really no replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold in world football, let alone in our squad.
Conor Bradley has had plenty of sub involvements this term but this one came far earlier than expected with our No. 66 going off before the half-hour mark, meaning he’ll likely sit out England duty – but with no real idea of what the issue is at this stage, it’s tough to look ahead to Real Madrid and Man City and wonder if he’ll be around.
The other side of the break we should see Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa back – hopefully Trent will be with them.
Bradley, though, was excellent, as was the whole back five – who formed a nice group huddle immediately post-match after rightly being rewarded with a cleansheet.
The two faces of Darwin Nunez
Leaving aside the startling ineptitude of David Coote being on display once more, it was a brilliantly followed in and taken goal by Darwin Nunez: one touch to round the two-time Yashin Trophy winner Emi Martinez, one touch to clip in a magical finish from a fairly tight angle.
It’s the type of goal to make you think ‘now we’ll see the best of him’.
Except, 10 minutes later he has a strangely similar chance and never once looks like finishing it, being off-balance and poorly set before striking the ball and wafting it wildly over the bar.
For a full hour this was the two sides of Nunez: industry and movement, finding spaces and getting the ball in them, but then mostly bad execution, including a header planted wide at the near post and a couple of long-range efforts which were well-hit, but not really threatening.
Was it a great performance? Not really. Did he score the winner? Yes, and that’s sometimes most important – even if on a sustainability level, we still want more.
One note on his substitution: Luis Diaz moved centre-forward in his absence. Maybe we’ll see that more often, somewhat akin to Sadio Mane‘s transformation back in the day, but it also suggests Cody Gakpo is very much a left winger only.
Ibou Konate and the clean sheet Reds
The best and most in-form centre-back in the Premier League right now plays in red… and wears No.5.
Yes we know Virgil van Dijk is immense, and has been brilliant. But Ibou Konate’s form over the last month or so has been astronomical, an absolute force in challenges, immaculate in recoveries and perfect in his concentration.
The longer the Frenchman goes on like this, the more chance we have of winning the mightiest prizes, it’s that simple.
Yet it’s a team game of course and it was another welcome clean sheet on the night; not long ago it was one shut-out in five, but now it’s two in four days against teams with noted attacks.
Caoimhin Kelleher has been a fantastic stand-in, Van Dijk is always elite. Konate, though, is the current standout.
Resting pretty heading into the international break
Liverpool, top of the league! Liverpool, Liverpool top of the league! Those were the chants which rang out around the Kop with five minutes to go as the second goal was confirmed and the result seemed finally in no doubt.
As above, that Man City defeat left a huge opportunity on the pitch; thanks in no small part to Mo Salah, the Reds took it.
The gap is now five points from first to second, City on an unheard of four-match losing streak, with Pep Guardiola’s team visiting Anfield on 1 December.
Before then, Liverpool travel to Southampton, while City host Tottenham.
Arne Slot‘s record has been obviously stupendous, but pleasingly we’ve done two important things so far this term: bounce back immediately after a setback, and now take a big chance when one emerged to press our claims at the top.
For two weeks our perceived rivals can sit and stew and look at the mighty Reds sat atop everybody else – whether that’s those on the domestic front or the wider European campaign.
Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa
