Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa — Player Ratings

Liverpool continued their unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday thanks to goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah, either side of a Matty Cash own goal.

In a game notable for the absence of the suspended Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool kicked off brilliantly in the third minute as Szoboszlai grabbed the first goal of his Reds career with a beauty, curling a left-footed strike into the bottom right-hand corner following a corner kick.

Jürgen Klopp’s men continued to drive forward with full force, before doubling their lead in the 22^nd minute, after a fierce Darwin Núñez strike rebounded off the post onto an unfortunate Matty Cash, who could only watch as the ball hit the back of the net.

Joël Matip should have extended Liverpool’s lead a few minutes later, but he fluffed a free header in the six-yard area after a beautiful in-swinging Szoboszlai free-kick.

A lively Núñez, who started the game after his heroics against Newcastle last weekend, then had a chance to grab his goal at the end of the first half: his dinked effort over Emi Martínez from a tight angle unfortunately came back out off the crossbar.

Just a few seconds after the restart, Cash had a great chance to bring Aston Villa back into the game, but his free header was magnificently clawed away by Alisson.

In the 55^th minute, Salah was able to put the tie to bed for Liverpool after a lovely Andy Robertson corner was flicked on by Núñez for an easy tap-in at the far post for the Egyptian.

Barring a surging run and long-range strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold - who went off injured, seemingly as a precaution - Liverpool chances were rare in the remaining 30 minutes. But ultimately, they were able to see out a comfortable victory and move up into third, just two points behind leaders Manchester City before the international break.

GK: Alisson (8), RB: Alexander-Arnold (8), CB: Matip (7), CB: Gomez (8), LB: Robertson (7), CM: Jones (7), CM: Szoboszlai (9), CM: Mac Allister (8) RW: Salah (8), ST: Nunez (7) LW: Diaz (7).

Subs: Elliot (6), Jota (6), Gakpo (6), Quansah (6), Endo (N/A)