While the hosts were the better side and deserved all three points, Villa will rue missed opportunities that could have changed the balance of the game having had some big chances in key moments to get on the scoresheet.
That was seemingly the biggest frustration for Emery when he analysed the game in his post-match interview, as he was seemingly happy with the way in which we stuck to our structure and idea of playing, but ultimately we weren’t effective enough at both ends of the pitch to make it a more competitive encounter.
“It was difficult to win here but we were excited about how we could react,” he told VillaTV. “How we could face them after our good results against Everton and Burnley.
“Really, we were trying to compare with the match against Newcastle, and here Liverpool; more or less two similar teams. We needed to face differently than the match we played against Newcastle.
“I think (how) we played, in the first half, was the key and we played really taking chances, we weren’t clinical and we conceded some chances to them as well and they were clinical.
“In the first half it was 2-0, but more or less we could react – continuing, trying to create chances and being clinical.
“In the second half we started very well and created two very good chances to score, we didn’t do it. And then when they scored the third goal, really, the match was finished.
“We were thinking to change, not like in Newcastle when in the last 20 minutes we really conceded a lot then. And we tried today, okay, we are losing 3-0, we can accept at the end because we weren’t clinical and they were clinical.
“We tried to compete and keep being consistent in our gameplan to the last minute as well.
“Now, they are better than us, before the match we were thinking about how we can face them, trying to be closer to them. But they showed us they are better, still better than us.
“But the Premier League is 38 matches. We are going to try in our process, try to improve and try as well now to take our challenge at home against Crystal Palace in two weeks still being strong in our mind.”
Villa had chances in both halves and squandered them, but Emery will also look at how we were unable to enjoy sustained control in the encounter, given the way we’re trying to play with possession in every game.
Having struggled to impose ourselves and react to pressure and early adversity in both defeats to Newcastle Utd and Liverpool, we’ll hopefully find the solution moving forward to ensure we’re more competitive in future match-ups with the top sides away from home.
For now though, there will no doubt be plenty of analysis and work done at Bodymoor Heath over the international break, as we look to bounce back against Crystal Palace on our return to action, while there will be a busy schedule following that as we compete across three competitions.
While there is no need to panic and become overly critical after the loss on Sunday, there is disappointment and frustration that we didn’t produce our best as we can beat any side on our day. In turn, there’s nothing wrong with having high standards for the team given we want compete at the top and so Emery, the players and all concerned will all accept this wasn’t good enough if we want to get to where we hope to be.
There were positives too as had we taken our chances despite starting so poorly, it could have been an entirely different game. However, it will be a key challenge for us to identify where we’ve gone wrong, and correct those mistakes moving forward to show improvement.
