Mohamed Salah 6, Naby Keita 8; Douglas Luiz 8 - Liverpool v Aston Villa player ratings

Premier League champions maintain 100 per cent home record

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  Alisson Becker – 7, Coped with everything that came near him, and tried his best to create, too, with some quick, long-range passes. Good late save to thwart Grealish. Reuters

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  Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7, Among Liverpool’s most creative forces, which is hardly unusual. Played the pass before the assist for the opener. AFP

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  Joe Gomez – 6, Rarely threatened by an inexperienced Villa forward line. EPA

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  Virgil van Dijk – 6, Lucky his side were not punished after he had given the ball away to Luiz in the second phase. Other that that, he was little troubled. EPA

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  Andy Robertson – 5, Seems as though he clocked off as soon as Liverpool clinched the league. He made plenty of missteps and was booked, too. EPA

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  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6, Huffed and puffed, but to little effect, bar a couple of semi-threatening crosses. EPA

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  Fabinho – 6, Nowhere near the spellbinding display of the last time he played at Anfield, and he was subbed on the hour. EPA

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  Naby Keita – 8, Threaded a fine pass for Sadio Mane to finally break the shackles, and was full of energy throughout. EPA

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  Mohamed Salah – 6, Some way short of his best, but still good enough to provide a cute assist for Curtis Jones’ goal near the end. Reuters

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  Sadio Mane – 7, Happy to go looking for work when the ball was not finding him, and he was perfectly placed to hit the opener.Reuters

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  Divock Origi – 5, Caught the eye because of his newly-dyed peroxide hair, but definitely not his performance. AFP

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  SUBS: Georginio Wijnaldum (on for Fabinho, 61') – 6, Helped give the champions some cohesion when he was part of a triple substitution on the hour. Reuters

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  Roberto Firmino (on for Origi, 61') – 5, Given half an hour at the end, but continues his anonymous return since lockdown. Reuters

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  Jordan Henderson (on for Oxlaide-Chamberlain, 61') – 7, Provided the oomph that really was required as Liverpool laboured for the first 60 minutes. EPA

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  Curtis Jones (on for Keita, 85') – 7, Canny positioning allowed him to profit from Salah’s knockdown to score his first goal in front of the Kop. AFP

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  Neco Williams (on for Robertson, 90+4') – NA, Sneaked in an appearance fee just before the final whistle. EPA

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  ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Pepe Reina – 6, No chance with either of the goals, and was otherwise underemployed on his perform to his old stomping ground. AFP

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  Ezri Konsa – 7, Coped well enough with Robertson and Mane in the first phase, and was rewarded by having Origi switch to his flank in the second. EPA

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  Kortney Hause – 7, Maybe fortunate to not to have conceded a penalty against Salah – but that would have been unjust itself, given how capably he performed otherwise. Reuters

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  Tyrone Mings – 7, Made easy work of Origi, and even had the chance to maraud forward when he had the chance before the break. Reuters

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  Neil Taylor – 6, Made one important clearance from a Robertson cross, but the two goals both came in areas he could have filled. AFP

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  Douglas Luiz – 8, His industry was the major feature of a plucky Villa performance – and he even dispossessed Van Dijk. EPA

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  John McGinn – 5, Booked for a late challenge on Oxlade-Chamberlain in the first half, and was half a step behind for much of it. EPA

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  Jack Grealish – 7, Appeared to be batting a foot injury throughout, which took some of the spark out of him. EPA

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  Anwar El Ghazi – 5, Too many Villa attacks broke down when the ball made it to the ponderous wide-man. AFP

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  Trezeguet – 5, Wasteful with a cross when Villa needed better on the break in the first-half, which typified his side’s lack of precision. EPA

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  Keinan Davis – 6, From Biggleswade Town to the big time. No surprise he found it tough going against Van Dijk, but no disgrace either. Reuters

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  SUBS: Mbwana Samatta (on for Davis, 74') – NA, For Jota, ditto Samatta. Both appeared to have the best intentions, but without the opportunity. EPA

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  Jota (on for El Ghazi, 74') – NA, Saw some of the ball when he came on, but not in areas of the pitch where he could make an impact. Reuters

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  Indiana Vassilev (on for Trezeguet, 85') – NA, Only enough time to complete a satisfying word-play with the Liverpool substitute Jones. EPA

Sadio Mane and Curtis Jones scored the goals as Liverpool maintained their 100 per cent record at home this season by beating Aston Villa 2-0.

The champions initially struggled to shake off the disappointment of the loss to Manchester City last time out as relegation-threaten Villa performed admirably.

Mane broke the deadlock just after the second-half drinks break, while teenage midfielder Jones clinched the win with his first league goal with a minute left.