Liverpool had to settle for yet another point in the Premier League as wasted chances at one end was met with poor defending at the other in a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa.
Arne Slot felt his side did not get what they deserved at Villa Park on Wednesday after they were left to come from behind to settle for a point.
Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold were on the scoresheet for the Reds but missed big chances and defensive lapses squandered the opportunity to put Villa out of the contest.
Nevertheless, Liverpool remain at the top of the Premier League table with 12 games to go.
Here, Joanna Durkan (@JoannaDurkan_) and Dan Clubbe (@dan_clubbe), who was in attendance at Villa Park, discuss the ups and downs of the draw and whether Liverpool’s attack or defence is most concerning.
The good…
DAN: Villa Park is a personal favourite of mine, fireworks, techno and light show not included. As ever, the travelling Kop were in fine voice and the let-off for Trent’s equaliser brought back memories of celebrating Robbo’s in 2019.
On Trent, his celebration for that goal was one of possibly lesser seen emotion from him. Almost a passionate plea to the away end to go again, to keep the faith. Taking him off for fitness reasons is understandable, if not a little frustrating as he appeared to have just recaptured his mojo.
A point gained. Villa Park is never easy and the closing stages felt very much as though they were in the ascendency so getting out of there with the draw and extending the lead even slightly might end up being a positive.
Despite the disappointing result, there was definitely a sense of defiance at full-time, perhaps an understanding that sometimes this is how title victories are compiled.
JOANNA: As you say there, Dan, it was nice to see how Trent celebrated as for much of his outing I was questioning if he was at all bothered, that was a nice sign that he was!
Salah was our shining light, as he often has been this season and it is a damn shame that those clear-cut chances did not fall to his boot, we might be talking about a win otherwise.
It was not a defeat, that is a huge positive, and at least another tough away trip is behind us.
The bad…
DAN: Getting into a fight with Aston Villa, albeit clearly a proper side, with their defensive issues and what’s at stake for us, I wanted us to flex our title credentials, alas we’ve seemingly lost a bit of our poise and composure.
Why, oh why? Honestly, the sense of disbelief for both our misses was palpable, I must’ve made shaking head eye contact with 10 others with the exact same facial expression.
Diogo’s coming so soon after they scored felt significant, and for someone who is usually so reliable. As for Darwin, well, I prefer not to speak.
JOANNA: My head was in my hands more often than I would care to admit with one missed chance after another, we could’ve been out of sight well before they ever got a sniff.
Nunez’s miss was shocking but as you say Dan, that Jota’s effort after their first went nowhere near goal – did it even go for a throw-in?! – was even more jarring as you just do not expect it.
It is killing us at a time when our midfield is begging for fresh legs and our defence is leaking goals, we can’t be needing two or more goals each and every game – we’ve been here before, we know how it ends.
Slot has his favourites and he explained how he had to take Trent and Diogo off, but he needs to trust his squad – surely Federico Chiesa does better than Nunez there?
Not that they weren’t already before, but the clashes against Man City and Newcastle just became all the more significant.
What’s more concerning, how often we’re missing big chances or the inability to keep a clean sheet?
JOANNA: The wastefulness with big chances is damning, but Liverpool have only failed to score in a match three times this season.
What is becoming concerning is how often we allow the opposition to score with their first shot on target or via avoidable situations, it then only piles the pressure on the forwards to respond.
We have kept three clean sheets in our last 13 league matches and in that run have drawn six times, conceding at least two in five of them.
It requires more work and effort at a time when players are becoming increasingly tired, it is creating some tension and Liverpool are becoming their own worst enemy as a result.
DAN: Whilst in isolation of this match it’s hard to overlook the squandered chances as wasted opportunities to pick up three points.
Most of the season it’s been our defensive solidity and almost bulletproof defensive record that has underpinned our surge to the summit, whilst the magic of Mo with a little help from those around him takes care of business up the other end.
So, with all that said, it has to be our sudden shakiness at the back that has caused the most alarm and threatens to drag us into a ding-dong title race when really we could’ve been more or less home and hosed.
