Liverpool player ratings vs Villa: Salah below-par, Fabinho calm

Liverpool player ratings – midfielders

Central midfield: Jordan Henderson – 4.5/10

The captain had no problem getting hold of the ball – but being hauled off at half-time is an indicator of what he did with it.

Tempo-destroying passes, this was a frustrating 2015-like performance from Henderson and is exactly why fans got frustrated with him.

As the manager on the pitch he should be upping the tempo, the speed of passing and dictating play. He did the latter, but in a negative fashion.

Central Mmdfield: Gini Wijnaldum – 6.5/10

Wijnaldum was on par with Henderson in the first half. His first thought always was back, and on the half-turn his thoughts were negative.

But with the super-sub Thiago Alcantara coming on – as with most of the team – his performance levels shot up.

He capped off a decent second-half display with a beautifully placed finish into the bottom corner to give Liverpool the lead.

Central midfield: Curtis Jones – 5.5/10

Apart from his cross for Mane’s opener and testing Onodi at the end of the second half, Jones was pretty average tonight.

The number 17 was taken off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with half an hour left, he failed to really make any impact in a game which he really should flourish.