Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa: Reds five points clear at Premier League summit

Will Rooney reports from Anfield as goals from Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah extended the Reds' lead ahead of Man City.

Transcript

00:00Full time here at Anfield, a cold night but Liverpool fans who are leaving the stadium won't mind that at all

00:07because there was plenty to cheer about. The Reds now 5 points clear at the summer to the Premier League table

00:12after a 2-0 win over Aston Villa. Couples with Manchester City's 2-1 loss at Brighton.

00:18Can Liverpool go all the way? Well, after 11 games they're starting to believe, they certainly are

00:24because Liverpool, so much was made about this run of fixtures. Chelsea, Arsenal, Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen,

00:32Brighton twice and of course Aston Villa. Real, real tough games but Liverpool have dropped points in one of them

00:38and that was away at Arsenal. They probably did deserve the 2-0 win tonight. Both sides had chances,

00:44Aston Villa more so from set pieces but Liverpool, it was Darwin Nunes on target in the first half

00:50in the 20th minute when Mo Salah broke a pace, he looked to be fouled by Leon Bailey who looked to be the last man

00:56but the referee played play on and Nunes picked up the loose ball, rounds at the keeper, fired home.

01:02To be fair to Villa, they threatened on a couple of occasions but Kevin Callaghan in goal still deputised

01:07with the injured Alisson made two fantastic saves in a successive minute. First from Amazue Onana,

01:13the former Everton midfielder and then from Diego Carlos, great saves. Second half was very halting.

01:20Just before actually Villa's chances, Darwin Nunes spurned another big opportunity he should have put away

01:27Liverpool for another counter but this time he lacked composure and fired over and that was the story again

01:32in the second half, Aston Villa struggled to break Liverpool down and as they become more open,

01:37Liverpool threatened on the counter attack, Cody Gaspel put one over the bar, Mo Salah just couldn't find out

01:42and Nunes with another counter but six minutes remain and that man Mo Salah put the game to rest.

01:48There were no late nares here at Anfield because he bears forward, he has options ahead of him but this time

01:54he chose to go it alone and he chose the right decision because he just gave Thierry Martin as the Villa keeper

01:59the iron and slotted home to deliver Liverpool the victory and move the five points play as I say

02:04to the top of the Premier League table here before the international break ensues.

02:09The only disappointment tonight was Trent Alexander-Arnold limping off shortly after Liverpool opened the scoring

02:16with a hamstring injury, Arnold Slott said it's always serious if a player goes off, especially that early in the game

02:22unlikely he's going to feature for England now this week and Liverpool will be doing the scans either tomorrow

02:28Sunday or Monday to see the extent of that issue but it will be a massive blow because once the season recommences

02:35we've got Southampton, Real Madrid in the Champions League and Manchester City, if Liverpool won that game

02:41it could potentially be eight points clear but overall plenty to celebrate on a cold night here at Anfield

02:47finish Liverpool 2-0 Aston Villa.