Match Summary
Here’s the lineup of both teams.
Liverpool pressed high with the great intensity from the start of the game, as usual, and forced the error from Andrés García which leaded the Salah’s opening goal. However, within the first half, the host turned it around. The first one came from the free kick, and the other was the great combination play. In the second half, Liverpool had time to dominate the possession in the opposition half in the early stage of the second half, but the equaliser was their trademark, counterattack from their own half. There were no more goals in the game, but it was Aston Villa who created some chances at the end. Although Liverpool had several chances to score, especially when Núñez was only to put the ball into the empty goal, they failed to extend the gap between the top and second in the table.
0-15mins
Liverpool’s energetic start and Villa getting used to it
At the beginning of the game, Villa wanted to press high from a compact 4-4-2 shape, but Liverpool used a long ball and progressed into the final third. Then, it became Villa’s turn to play out from the back, but Liverpool started to hunt. They forced some errors and earned corner kicks multiple times to threaten Villa’s goal. The illustration below shows how Liverpool pressed against the opposition goal kicks.
However, Emery’s men, who are usually great at provoking the opposition high pressure and playing out from the back, got used to Liverpool’s pressing and found some space where the opposition can’t defend. The key was finding Rogers in between the lines.
Especially when Mac Allister jumped to McGinn, the space in between the lines became larger and Rogers would be free there. Robertson was assigned to look after him, but as Villa’s right fullback was higher, he had to hesitate to commit to close down Rogers tightly.
15-30mins
A mistake costed much
In 16th minutes, Villa forced an own goal, but it was ruled out due to the offside, but it was a great build up play from the midfield.
Disasi found Tielemans behind Szoboszlai, who played to Asensio in the pocket. This is a quite similar pattern as we saw in the previous image where Rogers received a ball in between the lines and also, it was same that Liverpool’s fullback was underloaded against two Villa players. Asensio and Rashford combined well and the great one-two to break down Liverpool’s right side. This sequence literally shows how well Aston Villa adapted to the opposition pressing.
However, it was Liverpool who found the opening goal, which was from Villa’s mistake. In 29th minutes, García tried to play back to the goalkeeper, but it was intercepted by Jota, who dragged Martínez out and assisted to Salah with great composure. It was a mistake, but Liverpool well locked the opponents in and forced the error. Well deserved goal.
Another thing which should be mentioned in this period is how Liverpool tweaked the shape to cover the lack of the natural left winger. As Gakpo was sidelined due to the injury, it was Jones who played in the position. He is not a natural winger, so he often tucked inside, which vacated the left wide area. Therefore, Robertson positioned himself higher than before to fill the area.
Slot prefers to keep the back four deep to drag the opposition out, creating space behind the opposition midfield line. However, this time Robertson needed to step higher to fill the space vacated by Jones, so Mac Allister dropped to cover the space left by Robertson. This indicates that they are (partly) influenced by the idea of positional play.
30-45mins
Villa turning it around
Even though Aston Villa were 1-0 down, as it was mentioned, they were able to play through the opposition pressing frequently.
When Aston Villa could find someone inside and who played to outside, they could play away from the pressure. Liverpool’s winger often applied pressure from outside to inside, so the wide players were open. This was how they progressed to the final third and delivered some crosses especially from García in the right.
It was a set piece how Villa scored the equaliser. In 37th minutes, Tielemans found the back of the net from the second ball situation from a free kick.
Additionally, they scored another from a beautiful pattern which had already repeated in the game.
Finding someone in the left pocket and creating an overload against the opposition fullback was a pattern which Aston Villa utilised effectively. This pocket of space was open as Salah hardly came back and Villa exploited well.
45-60mins
Equaliser from the most dangerous pattern
In the early stage of the second half, Liverpool pushed themselves and established the possession in the opposition half. Aston Villa close the middle well with the high line and compact block. Liverpool suffered but found the equaliser, although it didn’t come from the possession.
It was discussed the large space in Liverpool’s block as Salah didn’t come back, but thanks to him staying high while defending, Liverpool found the back of the net.
In 60th minutes, Liverpool won the possession in the own half and played a counterattack quickly. They found Alexander-Arnold who rapidly sprinted forwards and carried the ball in the space next to the opposition defensive midfielder. The space was open because Salah was high and pinned the opposition left fullback.
If you concede a goal due to the lack of someone’s laziness but he scores two, can you blame him? No.
60-75mins
Trying to find another
Liverpool kept pushing. Against Villa’s high line, they often exploited the space in behind with rapid runners. The illustration below shows the biggest opportunity for Núñez in 69th minutes.
As it is just an illustration, it is impossible to represent exactly where they were, but I tried my best and you can see how high the back line was. the ball from Bradley was as good as Trent’s and the chance was something which should’ve been a goal.
75-90mins
Villa’s time and Liverpool endured
However, after Liverpool’s time, Villa had created some chances in the last 15 minutes of the game. Especially, the substitute Malen tried to break through by himself and almost scored a match-winning goal.
Liverpool actually had huge chances to win the game, but Villa also played really well against the league leaders and I believe the draw was a fair result.
