Aston Villa vs Liverpool

Minute-by-minute report: Join Rob Smyth for updates as Unai Emery's new charges take on Jürgen Klopp's men.

He laid it off to van Dijk, who hooked a left-footed snapshot that deflected off Konsa (I think) and into the net. Digne curls a deep cross that finds McGinn unmarked at the far post, but the ball bounces awkwardly and he can’t decide whether to go at it with his head or his left foot. He rides the bounce well but then hits a first-time shot straight at Olsen. McGinn sweeps a long pass out to Digne on the left and hares towards the area. Alexander-Arnold curls a devastating free-kick from the right that bounces up towards the unmarked Nunez, eight yards out. “It’s clear that the other five in Liverpool’s front six (with Robertson and Alexander-Arnold backing them up) are in tune,” says Andy Flintoff, “but Nunez, despite all his energy, is’t quite there yet. Eventually he hits an off-balance shot that is blocked by the legs of Olsen, with the ball then ricocheting off Douglas Luiz and just wide. His cross was palmed away by Olsen to Bajcetic, who calmly dinked the ball over Olsen and rattled it through the legs of Mings on the line. oh never mind, the live pictures are back now, just in time to see Alisson make a comfortable save from Digne. “It was the season after that he really took flight and flourished. Douglas Luiz, 30 yards from goal in the inside-right channel, curled a beautiful cross to the far post, where Watkins pulled away from Matip and strained his neck muscles to plant an excellent header back across Alisson. The relentless Nunez did superbly to chase his own heavy first touch and keep the ball in play near the byline.

Whatever happens, Villa are comfortably mid-table for today. However, in the Premier League, this guarantees nothing and Emery's side will be looking to ...

4 The Premier League is about to return to Villa Park! Aston Villa winger Buendía backheels the ball to Digne who is brought down in the box. A huge chance to draw level - wasted! Darwin is played over and he brings the ball down with a lovely touch. Almost a crazy goal as Alisson jumps to collect a high ball that spun into the air. Aston Villa looked very dangerous before Liverpool silenced them with a great opener. There is a lot of frustration building... The striker was inches from meeting the cross which would have been a certain goal. Salah was lurking like a sneaky goal shark. Aston Villa are attacking again! Aston Villa are pressing to get something from this game.

Liverpool don revive dia hope for di Premier League afta a deserving 3-1 win over Aston Villa away.

Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool Robin Olsen make a great save to stop di effort Aston Villa 0-1 Liverpool Aston Villa vs Liverpool head-to-head Harvey Elliott enta for Oxlade-Chamberlain. Naby Keita enta for Thiago. Joe Gomez enta for Trent Alexander-Arnold Aston Villa 1-2 Liverpool Stefan Bajcetic enta for Jordan Henderson. Danny Ings enta for Emiliano Buendia, Leander Dendoncker enta for Bailey comes Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool Philippe Coutinho enta for Boubacar Kamara.

Join us for LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Liverpool from the Villa Park! Huge match in which both clubs will be fighting ...

Alisson, TAA, Van Dijk, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson and Fabinho IN. Kelleher, Milner, Gomez, Bajcetic, Elliott and Carvalho OUT. Olsen, Young, Watkins and Bailey IN. Emiliano Martinez, Cash, Ramsey and Ings OUT. Salah gave his team the lead just five minutes after kick-off and Van Dijk extended the lead in the last minutes before the break. Join us for LIVE coverage of the Premier League clash between Aston Villa and Liverpool from the Villa Park!

Aston Villa and Liverpool return to Premier League action as they meet at Villa Park on Boxing Day. Follow all the action here.

— India: Star Sports network has the rights to show Premier League matches in India. The rest of the matches are streamed on NBC platform Peacock for subscribers. Can either of these side start climbing the Premier League table with three points on Boxing Day? Stick with us to find out. He’s had top, top preparation and unfortunately he got ill before the City game." He said: "We can’t think too much about the summer, but Ox is fit. What time is Aston Villa vs. Aston Villa vs. Liverpool at Villa Park. Aston Villa 😍— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial)

Free highlights and match report as goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic helped move Jurgen Klopps Liverpool up to sixth in the ...

On closing the gap to the top four: "We have to be the pain in the backside for everybody. "The second half we needed to keep, again, our game plan and to try to get chances to score and opportunities to come back. One final run in behind the defence led to Liverpool's third goal. It proved decisive in the end. the possibility of having possession, don't concede the easy transition and, if someone lost his position, they done it and, second half, we reacted very well." In a difficult game we played a lot of good stuff. But the home side caused plenty of problems at the other end - and it made for a great game. We had some massive counter-attacks and could have scored the third goal much earlier. But such is the potency of this Liverpool team, going toe-to-toe with Salah and the rest always looked to be a risk. Watkins evaded Joel Matip to head the ball into the corner and the momentum looked to be with Emery's men. It was tough on Villa but Liverpool's quality told in the end. Ollie Watkins' expertly placed header halved the deficit and chances continued to flow at both ends in a wide-open contest with Darwin Nunez particularly wasteful.

Free highlights and match report as goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic helped move Jurgen Klopps Liverpool up to sixth in the ...

On closing the gap to the top four: "We have to be the pain in the backside for everybody. "The second half we needed to keep, again, our game plan and to try to get chances to score and opportunities to come back. One final run in behind the defence led to Liverpool's third goal. the possibility of having possession, don't concede the easy transition and, if someone lost his position, they done it and, second half, we reacted very well." And he then came off the bench to make his debut with 20 minutes to go in a 9-0 win against Bournemouth, his only previous top-flight minutes before Monday. In a difficult game we played a lot of good stuff. We had some massive counter-attacks and could have scored the third goal much earlier. But the home side caused plenty of problems at the other end - and it made for a great game. But such is the potency of this Liverpool team, going toe-to-toe with Salah and the rest always looked to be a risk. Watkins evaded Joel Matip to head the ball into the corner and the momentum looked to be with Emery's men. It was tough on Villa but Liverpool's quality told in the end. Ollie Watkins' expertly placed header halved the deficit and chances continued to flow at both ends in a wide-open contest with Darwin Nunez particularly wasteful.

Liverpool returned from the World Cup break with a big win over Aston Villa, which could be crucial in the Champions League race.

[Joe Gomez](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/102053/Joe-Gomez) (Alexander-Arnold, 79"), N/R [Stefan Bajcetic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/330605/Stefan-Bajcetic) (Henderson, 79"), N/R -- Took just two minutes to get himself onto the scoresheet with a cool finish from inside of the box. [Ben Doak](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/332948/ben-doak) (Nunez, 87"), N/R -- A Premier League debut for Ben Doak. [Fabinho](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/176287/Fabinho), 7 -- Followed up his strong performance in midweek [against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup](/soccer/english-carabao-cup/story/4837136/haaland-looks-restedman-city-look-like-carabao-cup-faves) with another aggressive display from the No. [Naby Keita](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/196567/Naby-Keita) (Thiago, 66"), 6 -- Fired a strike over the bar with a promising opportunity from outside of the box. [Harvey Elliott](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/280806/Harvey-Elliott) (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 66"), 6 -- Passed the ball well in closed spaces to help build Liverpool attacks, and kept things simple. That was until [Stefan Bajcetic](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/330605/Stefan-Bajcetic) was introduced for Liverpool and the 18-year-old's goal in the 81st minute eased Liverpool's nerves as they saw out the remainder of the game. [Andy Robertson](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/104943/Andy-Robertson), 8 -- The Scotland captain utilised his space on the left flank to produce an excellent opening ball to Nunez. Defender [Virgil van Dijk](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/157892/Virgil-van-Dijk) added a second goal after a number of Liverpool chances, with Salah turning provider to help earn a two-goal lead before the break. Worked hard to maintain the press from the front. Impressed with his distribution from the back again. He scored Liverpool's second goal to hand his side a two-goal lead going into the break. Jurgen Klopp, 8 -- Klopp adapted well to Aston Villa's changes throughout the match to ensure that the Reds didn't ever lose grip, despite a difficult start to the second half.