Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans says there’s something ‘you can just tell’ about Liverpool after playing them

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Liverpool dropped points in the Premier League title race after drawing away at Aston Villa.

The point could yet be a valuable one for the Reds as they seek to become champions of England for a 20th time, but it once again opens the door for Arsenal to close the gap.

No team has things all their own way at Villa Park and Liverpool will have expected a battle as they headed to the Midlands on Wednesday evening.

The focus ahead of the match had been on new signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, who have started well for Unai Emery’s team since joining in January.

However, while Rashford and Asensio had their moments, it was Premier League stalwart Youri Tielemans who was much more of a thorn in Liverpool’s side.

But after scoring and generally running the show against the Reds, Tielemans spoke out to give praise for what he’d also seen from Liverpool at Villa Park.

Youri Tielemans praises Liverpool ‘quality’

Liverpool were linked with Tielemans both before and after he joined Leicester City from Monaco in 2019.

The Belgian is an excellent all-round midfielder who was a steal for Villa when signing on a free transfer in 2023.

Against Liverpool on Wednesday, Tielemans was everywhere, driving Villa forward while also adding a well-taken finish past Alisson Becker.

But asked for his thoughts on Liverpool by premierleague.com, the 27-year-old was full of praise for his opponent on the night, too.

READ MORE: Phil Thompson left frustrated after ‘baffling’ Mohamed Salah moment for Liverpool against Aston Villa

“Any action is dangerous with them,” Tielemans replied. “You have to be aware every second ball and you can just tell the quality they have. Half chances just become a goal. So, you always have to be on your toes and I think we did that really well tonight apart from the two goals that we conceded and they punished you straight away.”

“They are a really good side and they are up there for a reason,” added the midfielder, when asked if he’d just played against this season’s Premier League champions.

Liverpool can’t win midfield battle

These are nice words from Tielemans and gives an indication into the mindset of players who come up against Liverpool at the moment.

It is also a compliment to the Liverpool midfield, who the Villa man was directly up against all evening on Wednesday.

However, despite Tielemans’ praise, it was clear that the middle of the park was not quite at its best for the Reds.

Curtis Jones’ move to the left wing didn’t really work, and having played so much football this season, Ryan Gravenberch is clearly beginning to tire.

Dominik Szoboszlai kept running as usual, but the Hungarian was culpable for Tielemans goal and arguably should have had one of his own late on. Perhaps some signs for concern.