> **Villa lose at Liverpool to leave Dave Woodhall disappointed.**
**If you take much notice of bookies you might have noticed that the odds on Villa winning at Anfield on Saturday night dropped during the week. Liverpool were still hot favourites but it showed that those who put their money on such things were taking notice of Villa’s revival, and also of Liverpool’s poor form.**
Any other club in similar circumstances would have been coping with _“IN CRISIS!”_ headlines but this is Liverpool and different rules apply. That’s a longstanding minor annoyance and another aggravating factor came with the team line-ups. Naturally the home side had previously-doubtful players fit again and their formation looked a lot more solid than it has done for some time. Villa, meanwhile, are still without arguably the two most inspirational attacking options. As kick-off approached it was impossible to dispel the feeling that we’ve seen this all before.
And yet, we got off to almost the best possible start. Morgan Rogers had an early shot that hit the post while Matty Cash’s deflected effort was pushed onto the post. The Liverpool supporters, who as we get told on a regular basis are the best and more supportive on the planet, must have started getting apprehensive but they had no need for concern. Just as it seemed that Villa had managed to get to half-time on top and looking to push on after the break, Emiliano Martinez made a poor clearance and we were a goal down.
Naturally enough that was a sickener and the heart seemed to go out of the team. Pau Torres’ hurried ball out of defence let to another goal after 58 minutes and that really was game over. Substitute Donyell Malen flashed a chance wide while another replacement, Jadon Sancho, briefly shone but had no real effect. Two- nil at the final whistle and Liverpool’s manager, players, supporters and media acolytes could breathe a sigh of relief. Saturday evening football is horrible at the best of times but this was their night. If either of the shots that hit the woodwork had gone in, or if Martinez had been a bit sharper, the game might have had a different ending but we couldn’t really complain too much at the end result, even if Unai Emery’s frustrations were obvious as the game drew to a close.
To look on the bright side Liverpool’s bad run was always going to end sooner rather than later, and while it’s a pity it couldn’t have lasted for another ninety minutes, time to move on and look to who’s up next. First we have the most unanticipated European tie in history, when Maccabi Tel Aviv and all their baggage arrive at Villa Park on Thursday. Once that’s over, and in this case ‘over’ can’t come quickly enough, the next visitors to Aston will be the far less volatile off the pitch but much better on it figures of Bournemouth. They’ve done well so far this season but if Liverpool’s bad run was bound to end, so is Bournemouth’s good one.
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