Liverpool v Aston Villa LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Reds return to the top of the table

Top of the Champions League and now five points clear at the top of the Premier League, Arne Slot is the low-key appointment making Liverpoolhigh-flyers. A 15th win in 17 games cemented a spectacular start for the Dutchman. Now Manchester City find themselves in second but as close in points to eighth-place Aston Villa as they are to Liverpool.

And Villa have picked the wrong moment to emulate City. Normally it is an enviable achievement to be in the same form as Pep Guardiola’s side. Not now. Not when it means Villa, too, have suffered four consecutive defeats. Liverpool took one of the supposed strengths of Unai Emery’s side, set-pieces, and turned it into a weakness.

For the second successive game, Slot chose his striker wisely. It was Luis Diaz against Bayer Leverkusen, an unconventional choice that reaped a dividend when the Colombian delivered the first hat-trick of his career. He duly reverted to the left wing as Darwin Nunez came back to deliver the opener against Villa, with Mohamed Salah doubling the lead to underline how well he is playing. Right now, Slot is in the managerial sweet spot where whatever he tries seems to work. Liverpool, with 12 victories in 13, can testify as much.

Jordan Pickford earned Everton a point from a stodgy stalemate with fellow strugglers West Ham.

The England goalkeeper kept out efforts from Jarrod Bowen and Guido Rodriguez and made a stunning late save from Danny Ings as the Toffees bounced back from last weekend’s defeat at Southampton with a gutsy goalless draw.

Crysencio Summerville had West Ham’s best chance when he rattled a post, but in truth neither side deserved a win from a joyless encounter desperately lacking in quality.

Yoane Wissa made it seven goals for the season as his brace helped Brentford bounce back from Monday’s collapse at Fulham and beat Bournemouth 3-2 at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The Bees needed a response after Fulham’s Harry Wilson scored twice in second-half added-time to stun them in the Premier League last time out.

And after Evanilson took advantage of a Sepp van Den Berg error to give the Cherries an early lead, Wissa’s header brought parity in west London.

Wolves secured a much-needed first win of the Premier League season as goals from Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha earned them a 2-0 victory over fellow strugglers Southampton.

The result relieved the pressure on Gary O’Neil, but questions remain on Russell Martin’s future after defeat left them bottom of the table heading into the November international break.

O’Neil made the brave call of handing Sarabia another start following his tough outing against Crystal Palace, but he repaid that trust when he put Wolves ahead.

Harry Wilson came off the bench and made it three goals in two Premier League games to consign 10-man Crystal Palace to a 2-0 defeat at Selhurst Park.

Emile Smith Rowe, born in nearby Thornton Heath, opened the scoring two minutes into first-half stoppage time and had a second chalked off after the restart.

Oliver Glasner’s already-depleted squad held strong but were dealt a significant blow when Daichi Kamada was sent off for a poor challenge in the 76th minute.

Brighton staged a sensational late fightback to come from behind and send Manchester City to a fourth consecutive defeat with a pulsating 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium.

Substitute Matt O’Riley appeared in the area in the 83rd minute to tuck away Joao Pedro’s pass for his first Brighton goal to stun the Premier League champions, minutes after Pedro had himself equalised following a penalty box scramble.

Erling Haaland’s goal after 23 minutes had looked like being City’s winner for much of the game, the Norway striker finishing off following a sublimely calibrated pass from Mateo Kovacic.

That result puts Liverpool back at the top of the league table with 28 points, five ahead of Manchester City and 10 ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea, who face each other tomorrow. The Reds’ net league game takes place on 24 November, away at Southampton.

Villa remain in eighth, with 18 points after 11 matches – they face Palace at home next, on Saturday 23 November.

Villa boss Unai Emery saysthat “Liverpool dominated sometimes but they did not have a lot of clear chances to score”.

“We did our work and we had the chances to score in the first half, in the second half, and we played more or less in the way I wanted.

“We have to keep improving, recover some players who have just come back after long injuries. Some players are not in the same performance level as last year but today they were a bit better.

“The league is tight, there are a lot of teams performing very well and we have to accept that we need to improve. We are under our level from last year a little bit, but I am still confident.”

“This year a lot of players have come back from long injuries. We have to try to keep the same positive attitude and mentality and try to accept sometimes results that we have had this week happen.”

Arne Slot is understandably happy post-match, and he praises “the best numbers” from Salah as well as “the defensive run Diaz made”.

“It wasn’t easy, like [as with] most of our games. They were maybe not as aggressive as we thought, and we were patient, though sometimes I felt we weren’t patient enough.

“One thing they’re good at is set-pieces, but in general we had control of the game, and scored – which you might not expect – from two counter-attacks.

 “I know it’s not the first time Liverpool score from breaks like that. 

“Maybe in pressing, okay we were outplayed a few times, so we said we had to do this better. 

“First of all, we’re really happy that most of our players stayed fit. We have to wait and see how trent is doing. 

“If I look at the games that are ahead of us, again they are tough, so it’s going to be a tough season in general. Margins are small - okay, we have a margin, but as Mikel  said, they’ve had many difficult away games already.”

Alexis Mac Allister is first to speak to TNT Sports after the game, and he calls it a “very big win against a very good team”. 

“We dominated, we played a good game. The goals came in counter-attacks, but overall the team played a very good game.

“We’re happy, as you said we’re top of the league, but there a still a a lot of games so we’ll take it step by step.

He adds that Liverpool “were watching” the City game, but “we’re not thinking about other teams, we’re just focusing on ourselves.

“Top of the league, five points ahead, it means something.

“We’re going to keep working and trying to get better.”