Liverpool fell victim to Ollie Watkins on Friday night as the Aston Villa striker added to his impressive collection of goals against them.
Having scored Villa’s second and third goals of a disastrous night for Liverpool, Watkins now has eight goals against the Reds in the Premier League.
As Sky Sports pointed out to him, only Andy Cole and Harry Kane have more in the competition’s history. Asked why he loves playing against Liverpool so much, the Villa man told some home truths about Arne Slot’s shambolic and ‘disjointed’ back line.
Who was Liverpool’s worst player on a terrible night at Villa Park?
The challenge here is to pick only one!
Watkins says Liverpool players leave so much space
Obviously, not all of Watkins’ Villa goals have come against Slot’s Liverpool. He famously scored three against Jurgen Klopp’s side in a shocking 7-2 defeat in 2020.
Nevertheless, it was clear on Friday that the Reds’ current back line absolutely plays to his strengths.
Watkins admitted as much while speaking to Sky, confirming that although he believes Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk to be ‘world-class’ centre-backs, he knows exactly how to give them the runaround.
“They play a high line and they don’t play offside, so they’re disjointed at the back and I feel like there’s a lot of space for me to run into,” said the England international.
“So, I feel like I’m always going to get opportunities against them. That’s no disrespect to them, the two centre-backs are world-class at the end of the day.
“But I spot opportunities, spaces in between them. When it’s a high line I like to run in behind and create some danger for them.”
He certainly did that on Friday, pulling Konate and Van Dijk every which way and ending up with two more goals.
In truth, any competent number nine would have given Liverpool a difficult game on Friday, but as he often reserves his best form for the Reds, it was no surprise to see Watkins do it again.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
