How the national media reacted to Liverpool's 2-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday evening
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and Aston Villa manager Unai Emery ahead of the Premier League match at Anfield on November 1 2025
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot and Aston Villa manager Unai Emery ahead of the Premier League match at Anfield on November 1 2025
View Image
Phew. Liverpool stopped the rot of successive defeats with a deserved 2-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday evening.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in first-half injury time with his 250th Reds goal when capitalising on a mistake from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez before Ryan Gravenberch scored a deflected second shortly before the hour.
It ensured a much-needed three points. And while the ECHO was in attendance and provided our usual level of coverage, here's how the national media viewed a positive result for Arne Slot's side.
Author avatar
Author avatar
Dominic King, formerly of this parish, pondered in the Daily Mail the impact of the Anfield fans and a major mistake from Villa.
"Don't get them angry," he penned. "Surely they should have known that? All Unai Emery would have wanted was for his players to turn Anfield into a doctor's waiting room, filled with silence and tension, but instead they poked the bear.
"The game Liverpool dared not lose became the game they gleefully won, fuelled by the energy of a crowd that acted as a 12th man, bellowing approvingly of every thunderous tackle and hollering disdainfully of every perceived wrong decision: Villa walked wide-eyed into a trap and paid the price.
"Here was an exorcism of Wednesday's League Cup elimination against Crystal Palace, when Slot's team selection put him under a microscope."
Writing in The Sunday Times, Jonathan Northcroft looked at a number of good individual outings from Liverpool players.
"No performance was bigger than that of Dominik Szoboszlai, who covered every blade and - tackling, heading, shooting, dribbling - showed every technical skill," he proffered. "He’s a remarkable footballer. And so, of course, is Mohamed Salah.
"The Egyptian followed the defiant brilliance of last week’s goal against Brentford with another record-breaking strike, to give Liverpool a lead they deserved for their first-half dominance. He was in vintage fettle, even going on a dribble up the touchline through two opponents before being tackled by a third, as Slot applauded and Anfield ooh-ed and aah-ed."
Andy Hunter, another once of these parts, concentrated in The Guardian on the show of support from the Anfield crowd towards Slot.
"As the pressure lifted inside Anfield and Liverpool entered stoppage time of their first Premier League win since 20 September, the Kop broke into a rousing chorus of Arne Slot’s name," he scribed. "But it’s easy to stand by your man when victory is in sight.
"A more significant rendition came at nil-nil, when the pressure was still firmly on and Dominik Szoboszlai had just squandered a glorious chance to punish the kind of lackadaisical defending that would ultimately prove Aston Villa’s downfall. Support for Slot was unequivocal when it mattered most.
"Liverpool, the Premier League’s crisis club before kick-off after six defeats in seven games, sit third in the table after starting an important week with a deserved win against Villa."
Richard Jolly of the Independent looked at how history was made and avoided.
"Liverpool had reasons to dread the prospect of history being made at Anfield," he typed. "Instead, they could celebrate it. Their slump was such that they were threatened with the prospect of a seventh defeat in eight games, a fate they have not suffered since 1926, the year of the birth of Queen Elizabeth II.
"It was more about Anfield’s beloved 'Egyptian King', however. Mohamed Salah became just the third player to reach 250 Liverpool goals, joining Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in a select club of Anfield greats.
"The importance of a landmark strike stretched far beyond the statistical. Liverpool ended a run of four consecutive Premier League losses, banking their first points since September. They leapt to third in the table. That, Arne Slot may argue, is no crisis."
Finally, the tall man Paul Gorst of the ECHO was another to highlight the Anfield crowd saluting Slot.
"The Anfield scoreboard was edging close to the hour mark when the Kop felt it was time to hammer home its message," he opined. "Ryan Gravenberch had just added to Mohamed Salah's first-half opener and the Liverpool faithful made sure their backing of an embattled Arne Slot was heard loud and clear.
"After a run that had seen the team lose six of their last seven games during a woeful few weeks, the idea that this was a vocal show of support to the head coach, amid laughable external chatter over his job security, was inescapable."