This was not a vintage Liverpool performance by any stretch but there were glimmers of sparkle as they dispatched Aston Villa and put their foot back on the accelerator in pursuit of the top four. Mohamed Salah got the ball rolling, equalling Kenny Dalglish’s goalscoring mark for Liverpool in almost double-quick time before Virgil van Dijk increased Liverpool’s first-half advantage. Villa deservedly replied through Ollie Watkins but a composed finish by the 18-year-old substitute Stefan Bajcetic for his first Liverpool goal left the away support rattling through their version of a Christmas classic. “Merry Christmas, Everton!” they sang as the celebrations continued.
Klopp’s festive message to supporters touched on various themes, from his admiration for Love, Actually and the “crazy world we are living in at the moment”, to Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat in May – “Mr Courtois had a pretty good day” – and, most pertinently, moving to “within punching distance” of the top four. Within 37 entertaining minutes here, they had homed in on fourth-placed Tottenham, whom they are now only five points behind with a game in hand.
