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Aston Villa demolished Liverpool at Villa Park this evening – here’s how the players rated.
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Aston Villa executed their plan perfectly this evening, leaving Villa Park in a 7-2 victory against the current Champions of England.
But how did the players rate? It’s hard to put it into too many words.
Emiliano Martinez – 9
Despite conceding two, Martinez proved how great he is as a Premier League number one. The goalkeeper made some strong saves throughout the game, but especially in the first half, that kept Aston Villa from potentially losing a strong lead.
Continued to prove himself as a leader between the sticks, and despite a singular mistake in the game, had an exceptional performance.
Matty Cash – 9 (Subbed, Elmohamady – 80′)
Cash was tasked with possibly the hardest part of the game, dealing with Jota and Robertson down the left hand side.
With help from Trezeguet, he was able to keep them relatively at bay and provided an exceptional out ball down the right.
Brave in his challenges, strong at both ends of the pitch. A complete performance.
Ezri Konsa – 9
Another incredible performance at the back from Ezri Konsa, and with tonight’s performances elsewhere from current England internationals – you’d have to think he’s in line for a call-up sooner rather than later.
Not one bad thing to say about his performance – despite conceding two.
Tyrone Mings – 9
Vocal as ever, Mings put in a true “captain’s” performance without the armband – and despite conceding two, it’s another faultless performance from the centre-back pairing.
Tyrone marauded forward on a number of occasions too, offering himself as an outlet in attacks – something he’s doing more of this season.
Matt Targett – 9
We criticised Targett’s defensive ability mid-week, but he didn’t put a foot wrong tonight. Whilst Salah’s goals both came from the side of Targett, he wasn’t at fault for them.
He was effective at the back, and going forward.
Douglas Luiz – 8 (Subbed, Nakamba – 80′)
It may be a bit harsh to give Douglas Luiz a lower rating than the rest of the side.
He was terrier-like, as always, and consistently chased the ball – but some of his passing was poor, and he was at fault for one of Liverpool’s goals, as he was pulled out of place, allowing Jota to race down the left.
John McGinn – 9
McGinn genuinely looked back to his best tonight – providing an exceptional performance. He was everywhere, chasing every ball, producing exceptional passes – grabbing an assist – and even picked up an outside-of-the-box volley goal.
What an exceptional performance from the Scot.
Ross Barkley – 9
An exceptional debut from Barkley, who picked up pre-assists and a debut goal.
The midfielder played as a ten, rather than Villa’s usual eight role occupied by Hourihane, and he got into exceptional positions and could have picked up a hat-trick with some of his opportunities.
Trezeguet – 9 (Subbed, Traore – 87′)
The Egyptian winger picked up an assist and could have picked up more if some opportunities had been netted.
It was a real statement performance from Trezeguet, who absolutely worked his socks off going forward and defensively – covering Matty Cash.
One of the best performances of the Egyptian’s Villa career – despite not finding the net.
Jack Grealish – 10
An absolute performance from the Aston Villa captain saw two goals and three assists. Five goal contributions. An exceptional performance from the number 10.
Liverpool just couldn’t get near him, and didn’t know how to stop him.
Ollie Watkins – 10 (Man of the Match)
Three goals and assist for Ollie Watkins, who picked up his first goal(s) of the season against the reigning Champions.
A perfect hat-trick, with his left foot, right foot and his head – and the record signing could have had more, with Adrian saving a few shots and the woodwork denying him.
A performance of perfection.
It’s incredibly hard to even put this performance into words.
