The OFFICIAL Liverpool FC thread - RIP Diogo

[laoislad]

Far better performance tonight and a deserved lead at half time.
Keep it going into the second half now hopefully.

[RedHand88]

We're back.

[laoislad]

Much much better tonight. Salah looked sharper, thought Bradley played well also.
First clean sheet since when? The Arsenal game?

Hopefully keep it going now against Real and City.

I'm guessing this place will be devoid of the usual numpties tonight...

[gawa316]

Back to basics performance. Definite improvement but lots more needed

[north_antrim_hound]

More physical, good press and a must win attitude only worry is wurz when he came on, jaysus the lads confidence is on the floor.

[Milltown Row2]

Must have been on the Southern Tayto tonight

Liverpools to lose

[laoislad]

Back to basics performance. Definite improvement but lots more needed

Lots more needed indeed but a definite improvement. Villa did make it easy for them at times though which helped! This won't be the case v Real or City.
If that Villa chance that hit the post early on had gone in it would have been another here we go again moment, the game would probably then have played out like the last half a dozen games.

[johnnycool]

More physical, good press and a must win attitude only worry is wurz when he came on, jaysus the lads confidence is on the floor.

The wee gift from Martinez was greatly accepted by Salah, but Villa had hit the post earlier and did cut through the Liverpool press a few times to make chances.

Once the goal went in Villa lost confidence in their tactics and Liverpool grew 10 foot tall.

[north_antrim_hound]

More physical, good press and a must win attitude only worry is wurz when he came on, jaysus the lads confidence is on the floor.

The wee gift from Martinez was greatly accepted by Salah, but Villa had hit the post earlier and did cut through the Liverpool press a few times to make chances.

Once the goal went in Villa lost confidence in their tactics and Liverpool grew 10 foot tall.

So the better team lost you think. Salah was handed a gift but all the stats don't back up your analysis.
Maybe if you said Villa persisted in playing out from the back and invited the press when other teams who beat them this year were going long and Liverpool struggled with those kick outs. Emery got his tactics wrong and played into Liverpool's hands.

[johnnycool]

More physical, good press and a must win attitude only worry is wurz when he came on, jaysus the lads confidence is on the floor.

The wee gift from Martinez was greatly accepted by Salah, but Villa had hit the post earlier and did cut through the Liverpool press a few times to make chances.

Once the goal went in Villa lost confidence in their tactics and Liverpool grew 10 foot tall.

So the better team lost you think. Salah was handed a gift but all the stats don't back up your analysis.
Maybe if you said Villa persisted in playing out from the back and invited the press when other teams who beat them this year were going long and Liverpool struggled with those kick outs. Emery got his tactics wrong and played into Liverpool's hands.

To an extent it's a bit of both.

Villa's tactics worked when they got it right, but they didn't get it right enough to persist with it when it was obviously hurting them with giving up goal chances of their own.
Villa started well but that Salah goal and even the earlier offside goal from Ekiteke was an early warning they didn't heed.
Better team won, but Liverpool are still work in progress defensively as Villa were able to expose once in a while.