Liverpool Frustrated by Villa

If Aston Villa could choose any stadium to play at, by this point few would doubt that they would choose Anfield. Villa have now won two out of their last three visits at Anfield, and last season forced Liverpool to fight back from two down to claim a point. Their excellent run at Anfield continued with a one-nil win as they exposed the numerous of the Red's flaws.

Villa gave Liverpool warning signs from as early as the third minute when they won the first corner of the game. Liverpool did create some chances for themselves soon after, but never quite found their feet until after poor defending from a corner gifted Villa the only goal of the match.

If anything, the goal summed up how poor Liverpool were at defending set pieces, which have become a familiar flaw of theirs. It is one of their defensive faults from last season's side that has crept right into this season's. Throughout the match, Liverpool looked most likely to concede from a set piece, which was eventually bound to happen, and did. Luckily it was early on rather than late in the game.

There was little improvement after the scrappy goal that the Reds conceded. In fact, two minutes later they could have easily been two down after Senderos was left completely unmarked following a cross from an Aston Villa free kick. The home side had plenty of work to do in the following set plays to ensure that Villa did not double their lead. 

Meanwhile, on the attacking end, Liverpool struggled to create chances. The Reds established a strong foothold onto the game after conceding, but unlike Villa failed to make the most of their dominance. The Reds dominated possession for the majority of the match but could not capitalize. In a sense, it was almost like the clash with Chelsea back in April, when the ball was essentially in the blues half for the entire second half, yet Liverpool were able to create very few chances. Plenty of credit should be given to Villa, who were sharp, and clearly well drilled for such a scenario.

As the clock wore on, the frustration among both Liverpool players and supporters grew.  Out of desperation, Dejan Lovren was trying to pick out players with long balls. Phillipe Coutinho was rather unfortunate to have his shot slam the post, but it should not take any team with title, or even top-four ambitions eighty two minutes to seriously threaten an opposition's goal, no matter the form or quality of the opponent. Sterling's introduction did little harm to Aston Villa, and for that matter, neither did Mario Balotelli, who enjoyed only one shot the entire game.

Adam Lallana was not too impressive on his debut in a Red shirt. That being said, neither was anyone else for the home side. Aston Villa deserve plenty of credit for that.

Lazar Markovic who looked eager to score early on, did not have as much an impact on the match as he probably would have liked. He fluffed two difficult chances early on, but was not too creative. His impact waned until he was finally substituted.

It wasn't such a great day for the Reds, who enjoyed plenty at Anfield last season. However, one or two positives can be taken from the afternoon. The first is Liverpool's response to conceding. The Reds did not panic, but held their head high and continued to search for an opening into Aston Villa's defense. While they may not have been able to find one, they forced Aston Villa to work extremely hard to keep the door shut. The visitors may not have been able to had Sturridge been on the pitch, parterning Balotelli upfront.

While the result is far from convincing, it would also be wise to take Sturridge's absence into account as well as the excellent form of Aston Villa, who now sit second in the league. Few of Liverpool's opponents will go so far as to defend to the extent that Villa were able to, and would be able to escape with even a point let alone three. Besides, the Reds are not the only team of their opponents to obtain disappointing results so far this season. Manchester City were utterly poor against Stoke, and United struggled at home to Swansea, and to even Burnley and Sunderland. It may be difficult to gather momentum from their start, but lets not forget that City had a difficult start to last season, and went on to win the league.

It was not a very good day for Liverpool. It was for Aston Villa, who were well drilled coming into the match. The Reds have work to do, as do their rivals, but were also unfortunate to have encountered Villa in the form they are in, especially without Daniel Sturridge. Odds are, few opponents the Reds encounter will be in the run of form Villa are enjoying at the moment, and even if they are, the odds are that the Reds will have a suitable squad to take them on.