JAKARTA - The defending champions of the Premier League, Liverpool were beaten by Aston Villa with a score of 7-2 in the fourth week of the match at Villa Park Stadium, Sunday, October 4 local time. The strength of the Reds when they embraced the domestic trophy last season seemed to have left no mark.
Summer signing Ollie Watkins packed a hat-trick in the win, making him the first player to make the mark against Liverpool in a decade.
Dimitar Berbatov became the last player to score three goals against Liverpool for Manchester United at Old Trafford on 19 September 2010.
Launching Antara on Monday, the absence of the main goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who was injured and Sadio Mane, who a few days ago tested positive for COVID-19, feels right in Liverpool's camp. This is because the coating goalkeeper Adrian San Miguel shows the distribution of the ball that is far below standard, while the Liverpool front line loses Mane's signature touch.
Four minutes into the game, Adrian blundered when the pass was too heavy for Joe Gomez and the ball was taken by Jack Grealish to pass on to Watkins, who only had to make an easy shot to unlock Villa's lead.
Liverpool tried to get up but their attacks could be suppressed. And Villa throughout the match appeared to be effective in taking advantage of the space created by the high defensive line applied by the Liverpool players.
Watkins scored his second after beating Gomez and firing a thunderous shot into the far post to double Villa's lead in the 22nd minute.
Defeat at Villa Park. #LFC | #AVLLIV
- Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 4, 2020
Liverpool had a chance to respond with Mohamed Salah's kick using a wild ball in the penalty box in the 33rd minute, but two minutes later Villa restored a two-goal lead thanks to John McGinn's volley that hit Virgil van Dijk and his direction swerved to beat Adrian.
Villa continued to go crazy and in the 39th minute Watkins completed a hat-trick with an easy header for Trezeguet's lure who had earlier escaped from control to chase down Ross Barkley's free-kick to seal off the first half with a convincing 4-1 lead.
At halftime Jurgen Klopp tried to solve the problem by bringing in Takumi Minamino to replace Naby Keita. But new problems arose from the failure of Liverpool's midfield to maintain possession which repeatedly allowed Villa to create opportunities.
In the 55th minute, Barkley marked his debut on loan from Chelsea with a goal to increase Villa's lead to 5-1, with another shot assisted by a thump from Trent Alexander-Arnold's legs.
Salah scored his second five minutes later to reduce a 2-5 deficit, but there was no revival momentum for Liverpool.
In the 66th minute another goal is helped by a collision, when Grealish's shot finishes Watkins' pass which deflects Adrian after being hit by Fabinho.
The high defensive line was again the main weapon for Liverpool who conceded their seventh goal of the game in the 75th minute when Grealish escaped the offside trap and finished it off with a small trick of tricking Adrian.
Villa threatened several times and had the opportunity to add another goal, but when the whistle sounded the match was over, of course Dean Smith was very satisfied with a 7-2 victory over Liverpool.
This victory saw Villa wiped out his first three matches to make his best start to the season in the highest caste of English football in the last 58 years.
Villa, who struggled with relegation last season, are now second in the standings with nine full points, while Liverpool (9) slipped to fifth.
The Premier League will enter the international break for two weeks before Villa and Liverpool return to play. Villa travel to Leicester City headquarters on Saturday 17 October, hours after Liverpool have had their first edition of the Merseyside Derby of the season at Everton.
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