Liverpool clobbered 7-2 by Aston Villa

 

Champions Liverpool suffered a humiliating 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa in one of the most astonishing days in Premier League history.

The staggering defeat came hours Liverpool’s bitter rivals Manchester United were hammered 6-1 at Old Trafford by Tottenham Hotspurs.

Liverpool’s chief tormentor was Ollie Watkins, who became the first Villa player to score a hat-trick against the Reds for 88 years.

Watkins bagged Villa’s first after a mistake by Liverpool keeper Adrian in the fourth minute.

He netted again in the 22nd minute before Mohamed Salah got one back.

John McGinn’s deflected effort made it three and Watkins scored Villa’s fourth before half-time.

Ross Barkley, in his debut after joining on loan from Chelsea, scored Villa’s fifth after the break with the aid of a deflection.

Salah reduced the deficit but Jack Grealish netted number six before Villa’s captain ran clear to cap the rout.

Jurgen Klopp was so taken by surprise at Liverpool’s collapse that he actually wore a bemused grin at times as his team fell to the biggest defeat of the German’s career.

“We lost balls in the wrong area and did not protect properly. It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0,” Klopp said.

“We created but did not protect ourselves properly so each ball we lost was a massive counter attack.

“There is nobody to blame apart from me and us.”

Second placed Villa have won all three league games this term, while Liverpool’s first defeat of the season left Klopp wondering how to fix a leaky defence that has shipped 11 goals in four matches.