Ollie Watkins 9.5, Jack Grealish 9; Joe Gomez 3, Virgil van Dijk 4: Aston Villa v Liverpool player ratings

Astonishing match at Villa Park as Smith's side smash Premier League champions 7-2

ASTON VILLA RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez - 7: Called into action twice in the first 20 minutes to deny Firmino. Produced a one-handed save to palm an attempted lob by Jota over the bar. Parried a Robertson shot over just before the break. Looks an important signing for Villa. EPA

Matthew Cash - 6: Right-back had his hands full from the start dealing with Robertson and Jota’s attacks down his flank. Caught out of position for Salah’s first. Stuck to his task and life was made easier as Grealish, Watkins and Co ran riot in attack. EPA

Tyone Mings - 7: Straight into the action with a marauding run down the right flank and couple of important blocks in his own box. EPA

Ezri Konsa – 7: Forming really good partnership with Mings in centre of Villa’s defence which must please assistant manager John Terry. Reuters

Matt Targett - 7: Non-stop running down the left, helped stop Alexander-Arnold from becoming an attacking threat and was an important part of Villa’s victory. AFP

John McGinn - 8: Can count himself lucky not have conceded a penalty after quarter of an hour for a clumsy block on Salah in the box. Enjoyed another slice of luck when his shot from edge of the box deflected into the next off Van Dijk after 35 minutes. Great pass to put Grealish through for his second. Looks back to his best. EPA

Douglas Luiz - 7: Harsh booking for pulling back Minamino just after half-time. A good show from the Brazilian midfielder who was happy to take a back seat as his teammates ran riot in attack. AP

Ross Barkley - 7: Could and, arguably, should have had a first-half hat-trick like teammate Watkins. Loan signing from Chelsea missed an absolute golden opportunity to make it 2-0 in first 10 minutes but could only scuff shot wide. Then put another chance wide of the target moments before Salah pulled the score back to 2-1. Saw near post shot saved by Adrian. Finally scored, via a deflection, 10 minutes after the break. EPA

Trezeguet - 8: Wonderful crossfield pass to Grealish that set up Barkey’s second chance to score after 31 minutes. Perfect ball across box set up Watkins’ hat-trick header. Excellent performance from the Egyptian wideman. AP

Jack Grealish - 9: At the heart of Villa’s victory from the moment the game kicked-off. Kept his composure to set up Watkins’s opener and then handed another chance on a plate to Barkley a few minutes later. Lovely pass down the left to put Watkins away for his second. A third assist to help supply Barkley’s fifth goal on night. Credited with sixth goal although took huge deflection off Fabinho. No doubt about his second - and Villa's seventh- with cool finish when one-on-one with Adrian. AFP

Ollie Watkins – 9.5: A goal after just three minutes thanks to Adrian’s howler and Grealish’s calm pass. A sensational second after 22 minutes, picking up another great ball from Grealish, cutting inside Gomez and sliding a cracking finish into top corner. Incredibly, the former Brentford man headed home a Trezeguet cross to complete a first-half perfect hat-trick. Should have had a fourth when clean through with 20 minutes left but was denied by Adrian’s boot. Hit bar in last 10 minutes. Not bad for your first Premier League goals. Reuters

Subs: Ahmed El Mohamady - (On for Cash 80’) N/A. EPA

Marvelous Nakamba - (On for Douglas 80’) N/A

Bertrand Traore – (On for Terezeguet 87’) N/A. ALmost made it eight but was stopped by Milner tackle. Getty

LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Adrian - 4: In due to Alisson’s injury, but had catastrophic start when, instead of clearing it long, he gifted possession to Grealish who squared for Watkins to slot home. Another distribution error handed another chance to Villa midway through second half that they failed to capitalise on. Made a couple of decent saves and was given no chance with some wicked deflections on Villa shots but his confidence looked shot by the end. EPA

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 4: Like the rest of Liverpool’s defence, struggled to deal with Villa – and Grealish in particular – and their attacks down his right flank. Villa’s fifth, through Barkley, came via deflection of Alexander-Arnold’s leg. Badly caught out for Villa’s seventh. EPA

Joe Gomez - 3: Woeful game. Allowed Watkins to cut inside and get his shot away for second goal. Lucky not be punished by Villa after being caught in possession by Grealish just before the break. Positioning all over the place, confidence non-existent and was substituted on the hour. AP

Virgil van Dijk - 4: A game to forget for the big Dutchman. He deflected McGinn’s strike into the net, was then booked for foul on Barkley and the resulting free-kick led to Villa’s fourth goal. Even Vin Dijk’s immense presence couldn’t hold the team together in a truly atrocious Liverpool defensive show. PA

Andrew Robertson - 6: Saw early chance deflected wide after being set-up by Wijnaldum. All of Liverpool’s best attacking work came down his left flank. Forced good stop from Martinez just before half-time. AFP

Naby Keita - 5: Little influence on the game and, after a disastrous Liverpool first half, was hooked at the break. In the Guinean’s defence, there were others that performed far worse than him in that opening 45 minutes. EPA

Fabinho - 5: Huge deflection off the Brazlian from a Grealish shot made the score 6-2. Anonymous as Liverpool completely lost the midfield battle. PA

Georginio Wijnaldum - 5: Brilliant diagonal ball into the box to give Robertson chance after 10 minutes but little other big moments from the Dutchman in a disastrous Liverpool performance. Reuters

Dioga Jota – 6: Nearly caught out Martinez with lovely dink from outside the box just before the half hour mark, Caused Villa problems down the left with Robertson in first half. EPA

Mohamed Salah - 7: Hardly figured until he blasted the ball into the top corner in ruthless fashion to makes the score 2-1. Another quality finish made it 5-2 but the Egyptian looked shell-shocked as the chaos unfolded around him. AFP

Firmino - 6: Denied twice by Martinez early on – one blocked at close range, one near-post drive parried away. Provided assist for Salah’s second. AFP

SUBS: Takumi Minamino – (On for Keita 45’) 4: Klopp turned to the Japanese midfielder at half-time but he contributed next to nothing to Liverpool’s cause. Reuters

Curtis Jones – (On for Gomez 61’) 5: Hard time for the youngster to come on with his experienced teammates well off their games. Reuters

James Milner – (On for Firmino 68’) 6: Should have been brought on at half-time to try bring a semblance of sanity to Liverpool’s shambolic organisation. Timely sliding challenge to stop Traore making it eight. Reuters

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side "lost the plot" as they were thrashed 7-2 by Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.

Following on from Manchester United's 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the day, Liverpool added to the remarkable results as they became the first reigning English top-flight champions to ship seven goals in a league match since Arsenal in 1953.

Ollie Watkins' first-half hat-trick set Villa en-route to an astonishing victory – with Jack Grealish scoring twice, John McGinn and Ross Barkley once each – as Liverpool slipped to a first defeat of the season thanks to a woeful showing at the back in the Midlands.

Klopp, who suffered his biggest defeat as a manager, said: "We played into their hands, with all the goals. Then the game has a specific direction.

"We had still good moments, but our good moments lead to nothing, other than Mo's two goals.

"All their good moments lead to a big chance or goals, and that makes all the difference. All the things you should not do in a football match we did tonight, but all credit to Aston Vila, as they forced us to do those things.

"The first goal had an impact but it shouldn't. We conceded goals like that in the past, but the reaction wasn't good, and we lost the plot."

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith hailed the effort from his side, as they secured athree points in extraordinary fashion.

"It was just sheer hard work and effort," Smith said. "The work ethic, when Jurgen Klopp says 'wow' to you, you know you've done something right. The lads were superb, they executed the game plan perfectly. We were at our best today."