Fortunes reversed on Saturday night as Liverpool ended their four-match Premier League losing streak, ending Aston Villa’s own four-match winning run in the process.
Under pressure after a run of consecutive defeats, leaving their Premier League title defence hanging in the balance, Liverpool entered the game knowing they needed to show a response.
An insurgent Arsenal side’s 2-0 win away at Burnley extended their lead at the top, making a win essential if Liverpool wanted to hold onto the hope of retaining their title.
Despite an even first 20 minutes that saw Villa hit the post twice, Liverpool went on to produce their most complete performance of the season so far – reminiscent of their heroics in last season’s title-winning campaign.
Mohamed Salah turned up to score his 250th goal for the club, capitalising on Emi Martinez’s misplaced pass, before Ryan Gravenberch wrapped up proceedings with a deflected shot from outside the box in the second half.
The Reds held firm to record only their third clean sheet of the season and to send a recently buoyed Villa back to the West Midlands crestfallen.
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Salah cements Liverpool legend status
Salah’s landmark goal makes him just the third player in Liverpool’s history to score 250 goals for the club, after Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.
His strike was also his 190th in the Premier League – placing him fourth on the league’s all-time scoring chart.
Arne Slot was full of praise for his star player after the game, highlighting not only his achievement, but also his overall performance on the night.
“That’s almost unbelievable. If you score 250 goals, it is already unbelievable, let alone for one club,” Slot said.
“And I think, apart from the goal he scored tonight, he had a very good performance,”
“What I [also] liked is that he didn’t only do his offensive work really well, but he helped the team out defensively as well.”
And Slot was right. Salah tormented the Villa defence all night, giving Matty Cash a torrid time at left-back and linking fluidly with his team-mates to create constant danger in the final third.
The Egyptian has not performed to his usual high standards so far this season.
Salah has returned his lowest goal and assist output (at this stage of the season) of his Liverpool career so far, leading to cries from the Liverpool faithful for the in-form Federico Chiesa to replace him in the starting XI.
Returning Dominik Szoboszlai to the attacking midfield role in place of Florian Wirtz looked to reinvigorate Salah, with the two operating on a telepathic level at times.
Slot will be hoping this performance is a sign of things to come from Salah, who will need their highest earner and most influential player to be firing on all cylinders if they want to drag themselves back into title contention this season.
Emery laments costly mistakes
For Aston Villa, the defeat was a sobering reminder of their lingering flaws.
After a four-game winning run, including victories over Tottenham and Manchester City, Villa arrived at Anfield with the momentum in their favour – but their approach ultimately played into Liverpool’s hands.
Villa tried to build up play from the back against one of Europe’s best pressing teams, but this proved costly, with Salah’s opener coming directly from a misplaced pass from Martinez.
“We try to play with personality through our structures and through our rules,” Boss Unai Emery said.
“It was easy for Salah. It was a huge mistake, but it was something in our process and my responsibility. I accept it,”
“We build the team here through the style we want to keep in our process in the club and our next matches.”
It was a puzzling tactical decision from the Spaniard.
Liverpool have faced more long balls (571) than any other Premier League team this season, and that direct approach has been the key to several of their defeats this season.
Villa, however, attempted just 47 long passes, which is the fewest of any Liverpool opponent so far this season.
By not adopting a more pragmatic game plan to punish Liverpool’s clear tactical weakness, Villa allowed the Reds to dictate the tempo of the game.
If there is one lesson to be taken from the Premier League in recent years, it is that refusing to be pragmatic is a way to guarantee stagnation.
Emery may need to embrace tactical flexibility if his side is to truly push for the top four this season.
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Has Slot solved Liverpool’s problems?
While comfortably producing their best performance of the season so far, Liverpool fans should not get too carried away that this is the team’s turning point just yet.
Despite ending their losing streak, keeping a clean sheet, and largely controlling the contest, Villa’s setup allowed Liverpool to play the game on their terms.
By playing short and from deep within their half, Emery’s men gave Slot’s side the pressing triggers they thrive on.
It was a similar story to the 5-1 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt – another game where Liverpool’s vulnerability to the long ball went unexposed.
Still, Villa’s counter-attacks threatened Liverpool, and easily could have taken the lead early on with better finishes.
Much sterner tests now await Liverpool in the form of Real Madrid and Manchester City.
How will they manage when instead of Evan Guessand and Morgan Rogers running at their backline, it’s Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr.? When 6’4″ Erling Haaland is attacking those same long balls, not 5’11” Ollie Watkins?
Slot has these questions to ponder in the lead-up to these games. While he has ended the losing streak, he now needs to try to build momentum while addressing his team’s structural flaws if they’re still to compete for this season’s highest honours.
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Geoffrey H. Latayan 
Vivien Bernardino