Liverpool vs Aston Villa LIVE SCORE: Darwin and Salah score but Trent INJURED as Reds capitalise on Man City loss

Salah’s record

We mentioned earlier that Salah has hit double figures in goals and assists in each of his last four seasons.

We’d like to apologise to Mo as his record is MUCH more impressive than that.

He’s actually hit double figure goals and assists in seven out of eight seasons (and the one he didn’t he still managed 31 goals).

Here’s his record in full:

• 2017/18: 44G, 15A
• 2018/19: 27G, 10A
• 2019/20: 23G, 13A
• 2020/21: 31G, 6A
• 2021/22: 31G, 15A
• 2023/24: 30G, 16A
• 2023/24: 25G, 14A
• 2024/25: 10G, 10A

McManaman confident

Liverpool legend Steve McManaman is confident these players can go all the way – as they have done before.

Speaking on TNT, he said: “This group of players have been long into a campaign, some of them have won the Premier League and the Champions League so of course they can sustain it.

“If they stay fit and roll that starting eleven out and the five or six from the bench then of course they will go all the way.”

‘Keep working hard’

Slot was also asked about already being five points clear at the top of the table – but brushed it off.

He said: “As a manager if you come into a new club you don’t think about how many points after how many games.

“You think about changing the style or keeping it as it was. To change the style you have to do a lot of things on the training ground and in meetings.

“The only thing I have thought about is how to implement the playing style and how to make sure the players keep working as hard as they can.”

Slot hails work rate

Arne Slot was also speaking to Match of the Day and said: “Three home games [this week] and that always helps when you play in front of these fans. Tough opponent today, it wasn’t an easy one.

“I think it was [even]. They threatened us mainly with their set-pieces which is a big strength for them. They were waiting and waiting for us to lose our patience and then to hurt us on the counter-attack.

“The funny thing is we had so much possession and scored our goals from counter-attacks. It was an even game when it comes to chances but we dominated the ball more than they did.”

He added: “It’s not the first time we see this [defensive energy]. The team that won the Premier League the last four years has shown us how important work-rate is.”

Mo goals, Mo assists

OptaJoe has revealed that Mo Salah is the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to reach double figures in goals and assists this season.

He has 10 of each and has also achieved double figures in both in each of the last four seasons.

Trent update?

No big update on Trent Alexander-Arnold as yet, with Slot saying they will have to “wait and see” on an update.

He said: “We are really happy that most of our players have stayed fit through this tough run.

“We have to wait and see how Trent is doing. If I look at the games that are ahead they are tough. It will be a tough season in general.

“Margins are small, we have a margin but it is small. Many challenges to come for us.”

More from Slot

On Salah: “I think he has the best numbers from all our attackers. All our attackers have great numbers but Mo stands out in that aspect.”

On counter-attacking goals: “The set-pieces are for someone else. It is not the first time Liverpool score from breaks like that because we have players who are so fast.”

On Darwin Nunez: “I wondered what would happen if he wasn’t there because Mo was through on goal. Darwin was there and he scored and that’s good for him. With players around him who score so many goals it’s always good as a striker to get on the scoresheet.”

‘It wasn’t easy’

Arne Slot has given his verdict of the match on TNT Sports.

He said: “It wasn’t easy like most of our games have been now. Aston Villa were maybe not as aggressive as we thought they would be.

“We were patient. One thing they are very good at is set-pieces.

“In general we had control over the game and scored from two counter-attacks which is maybe not what we would expect.”

More from Emery

The Spaniard added: “This year a lot of players have come back from long injuries.

“We have to try to keep the same positive attitude and mentality and try to accept sometimes results that we have had this week happen.”

‘We are under our level’

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said his team played the way he wanted “more or less” but lamented players who are not the same level as they were last season.

He said: “Liverpool dominated sometimes but they did not have a lot of clear chances to score. We did our work and we had the chances to score in the first half, in the second half, and we played more or less in the way I wanted.

“We have to keep improving, recover some players who have just come back after long injuries. Some players are not in the same performance level as last year but today they were a bit better.

“The league is tight, there are a lot of teams performing very well and we have to accept that we need to improve. We are under our level from last year a little bit but I am still confident.”

Arne’s strength

Much has been made of Liverpool’s attacking form this season – with Mo Salah now top of the goal contributions charts after an assist and a goal against Villa.

But it is the defensive record that could prove the difference come the end of the season.

Liverpool have now kept NINE clean sheets in 17 matches this season, conceding just 10 goals in total.

Match report

Here’s how Phil Thomas saw the game…

‘We were watching the game’

In a rare move for a footballer, Alexis Mac Allister revealed that Liverpool were watching his former club Brighton beat title rivals Man City.

He added: “I did know, we were watching the game. I am happy for Brighton. I have special feelings for them, I am very grateful. They beat one of the best teams in the world right now but we are not thinking about other teams.”

Speaking about Mo Salah, Mac Allister said: “He is so good and so important for the team. He is a legend here. Happy for him and when you have him you know he is going to deliver and get the numbers.”

Title contenders

Alexis Mac Allister admits the place Liverpool find themselves in at the minute means they can count themselves as title contenders.

He told TNT Sports: “Very big win against a very good team. The goals came in counter-attacks but overall the team played a very good game.

“We are happy with it. We know we’re top of the league but there are a lot of teams so we take it step by step.

“If we are top of the league by five points then it means something. But we have to go step by step. If you asked me before the season started I would not say we were candidates but now it looks like it.”

Where we stand

They had a one-point lead heading into the October break.

Now that lead is FIVE for Liverpool going into the November stop.

No matter how title rivals Nottingham Forest do tomorrow, they cannot close that gap.

Chelsea and Arsenal have a chance to close the gap on Forest and Man City tomorrow when they play one another.

Villa in a struggle at the minute.

Copying Pep

Unai Emery is looking to emulate fellow Spaniard Pep Guardiola.

Winning European trophies, playing out from the back.

And now also, losing four games on the spin. Uh oh….