5 talking points from Liverpool 3-0 victory over Aston Villa as Szobo sparkles and Darwin dazzles

Liverpool produced their most complete performance of the season to date, beating Aston Villa 3-0 at home and going into the international break in fine form.

Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa

Goals: Szoboszlai 3′, Cash (OG) 21′, Salah 54′

Changes in the middle

Curtis Jones finished as the Reds’ best, or fittest, central midfielder last season, but injury has prevented him from starting again this season.

He came back here and from March to May he immediately occupied third place on the left. Alexis Mac Allister reprized his midfield role during the reshuffle and has been excellent to be honest.

The Argentine started the day with a good interception and was a brilliant, if subdued, source of constructive play from deep inside.

Jones looked a bit rusty technically, of course, but he was no slouch in work-rate, positional play and trying to support in the final third.

It will of course be a while before Wataru Endo or new signing Ryan Gravenberch earn spots, but this game overall was a good barometer of what it takes to be a starter in midfield.

However, Endo’s omission could be even more telling, especially given Klopp’s comments that the Japanese captain had to adapt to a “massive change” in tactics at his new club.

First of many

It is therefore necessary to mention the other holder at the forefront, who has been sovereign since his signing.

He’s had a great start to his Liverpool career in terms of performances, but Dominik Szoboszlai just needed that end product for everyone to sit up and see how good he is.

It was less than three minutes into this game with one of the cutest, most perfectly controlled shots to see a player’s “bad” foot all season.

The opening goal put the Reds ahead with a ball and was a good example of what the number could be.

Darwin has earned his place: does he keep it?

Last week’s late win was all about Darwin Nunez, who scored twice from the bench to convert the loss into three points and secure a starting position as a centre-forward against Villa.

His first half was fairly typical of his overall game: hard work in the channels, a threat behind the defense but not quite the clinical acumen we’d like to see – but he had a big impact nonetheless.

The second goal was his when a shot ricocheted off the inside of the post, deflected out, hit Matty Cash and bounced into the net. Then more towards the end of the first 45 minutes he hit the woodwork again, a deft shot beat the keeper, but rebounded off the crossbar and went out.

In both cases he was calm and chose the right shot after a great action: only a few centimeters prevented him from scoring two more.

Add to that a commanding leap in assisting Salah’s goal and although our No9 didn’t appear on the scoresheet it’s hard to say other than this was the best overall performance by someone Klopp has picked to start this season ahead.
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Maybe filling in after 65 was a fitness issue or just a sign that you’d done a good job; Either way, Darwin should be confident of staying in the XI after the international break.

Captain Trent and his motley crew

Captaining Liverpool at Anfield in the league for the first time since starting a game was a tremendous opportunity for Trent Alexander-Arnold and the youth academy at large.

The No.66 was quite unruly in the first half with his passing through, assisted by Villa who defended at every opportunity and his defensive work was generally good too.

Notably, the team as a whole seemed much more solid and the form seemed more consistent, as the No. 66 didn’t reverse as much in open play, aside from extended periods of possession.

However, we have to hope the injury doesn’t last in the second half as he went away with a shot.

Given that the starting centre-backs were the third and fourth choice options, it’s also worth noting that they both performed well – Joe Gomez and Joel Matip both misjudged but were otherwise solid and made very good interventions.
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Of course, speaking of defense, one can’t overlook Alisson – who remains the league’s best stopper and made another save here to show it, a brilliant save on Cash’s close-range shot.

On the way to the international break and the action during the week

Some members of the team are now leaving for international assignments, although Trent may not be part of it anymore.

Starting the season with three wins and one draw from four wins is undoubtedly a great start, although there’s no doubt that those 90 minutes were the best and most comprehensive overall performance of the season so far.

Some of those other points may not all have been scored in a lasting way, let’s say, as the Reds controlled this game from start to finish and were better in every way.

It’s also nice to finish with 11 on the field!

Wolves and West Ham lead after internationals, as does the start of midweek action – LASK and Leicester are both expected to offer rotation opportunities, bring in some squad players and ensure the Jurgen Klopp’s favorite eleven are fit and ready to shoot for the league games.

It was a much better performance and there’s reason to hope we’ll see a lot more of that in the games to come if the team is managed appropriately.