Five talking points: Aston Villa vs Liverpool

Paul Lambert

On a rainy afternoon in Birmingham, Aston Villa hosted Liverpool. All the pre match talk was concentrated on the two main men upfront for their teams. Daniel Sturridge for Liverpool and his counterpart Christian Benteke for Aston Villa. Both had scored in all their teams’ matches so far, with Benteke scoring three goals for the Villains.

Villa having played their third game in a span of seven days were trying to impress in front of their home support. A close fought game against Chelsea, where they could have got something out of the game would have given them the confidence to take on a Liverpool squad who had dominated against Stoke in their opening game. Liverpool were lucky to escape that game with the three points thanks largely to Simon Mignolet’s last minute penalty save.

The teams were only separated by a Sturridge goal in the 21st minute, the English striker collected a pass from Enrique in front of the penalty box. Dribbled past two defenders , rounded the keeper and calmly slotted the ball into the roof of the net to give Liverpool a perfect start to the season, 2 wins from 2 games. Villa were left to rue a few chances, one falling to star striker Benteke who unleashed a powerful shot from inside the penalty area only to have it saved by the strong hands of Mignolet, Liverpool just about deserved the three points at the end of the game.

Here are five talking points from the game

Suarez who?

Luis Suarez is still suspended for four more games before he puts on the red of Liverpool but going by the performance of the team they may not need a star striker. Don’t get me wrong; earlier Liverpool were completely dependent on Suarez scoring and creating chances. Sturridge has picked up the mantle of scoring for now. He has scored in both of Liverpool’s games this season and certainly when Suarez comes back into the team he can start doing what he does best. A roaring Suarez and a scoring Sturridge may just lead to a ton of goals, something that Liverpool have had a problem with in the last 2 seasons.

Lambert’s work is paying off

Ok, so the results don’t show how much Villa have improved from last season. They have continued their style of play under Paul Lambert who has started giving more chances to young players in his system. They beat Arsenal, they should have got a point against Chelsea and they should have gotten something from the game tonight. The team finally is gelling together and with Fabian Delph stepping up in midfield with Gary Gardner there is some solidity in the midfield for the Villains. With Benteke, Weimann and Agbonlahor in attack they should easily skirt away from relegation, watch out for some sparks from this team during the season.