GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Liverpool (Ollie Watkins, 57′)
A slip from Szoboszlai at the back for Liverpool releases Rogers to collect the ball in a very dangerous area.
He flicks it into the box for Watkins who guides the ball into the far corner and restores Villa’s lead!
Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool
57 mins: Close!
Rio Ngumoha cuts inside again and this time fires a shot at goal. It’s a fine strike and rattles the far post!
Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool
56 mins: Liverpool have been good value in this second half but they almost find themselves behind.
Ollie Watkins is fed through the the lines as Liverpool push high.
He’s clear on goal and slots it past Mamardashvili only for the offside flag to go up.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Liverpool (Virgil van Dijk, 52′)
Liverpool have their equaliser!
Or do they?
Virgil van Dijk drifts past his marker as a corner comes into the box. He’s over by the far post and nods the ball into the opposite bottom corner.
There’s a VAR check happening though to see if Van Dijk fouled Matty Cash in the build-up…
He didn’t! The goal stands.
Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
51 mins: Oh!
Ngumoha drives down the left and gets to the byline before hooking the ball into the far side of the area.
Curtis Jones gets on the end of it and has a shot blocked before the rebound comes to Gomez whose effort strikes the nearest defender as well.
Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
48 mins: Szoboszlai drives forward on the right side for Liverpool and curls in an attempted cross.
He sends it too close to Martinez though and the goalkeeper plucks the ball out of the air.
Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
On comes Ross Barkley who will not be required against Freiburg. He isn’t in Villa’s Europa League squad and replace Victor Lindelof.
Second half! Aston Villa 1-0 Liverpool
Villa get the ball rolling for the second half.
Ignore the doubters and criticism – Arne Slot is going nowhere
Arne Slot has been involved in the discussions about Liverpool‘s pre-season tour and the summer recruitment. And a year ago, that sentence would have been utterly unremarkable, a statement of the obvious. Now the context is different.
A season of speculation has stemmed more from results and a feeling among the fanbase than Slot himself or his employers. They, with their preference for silence, have said very little. But their inactivity has been an indication that Slot remains their choice and he said: “I have every reason to believe I am the Liverpool manager next season.”
