Liverpool respond to Arsenal message as Arne Slot undroppable emerges - 5 talking points

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LIVERPOOL 2-0 ASTON VILLA: Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah were on target as Arne Slot's side showed signs of Premier League championsLiverpool returned to winning ways on Saturday evening with a strong performance against Aston Villa at Anfield. Liverpool thought they'd taken the lead through Hugo Ekitike's header after 43 minutes, but he received Dominik Szoboszlai's cross in an offside position.Mohamed Salah struck just a 180 seconds later though as he pounced on Emiliano Martinez's awry pass to Pau Torres with a clinical first-time effort.

Here are Mirror Football's talking points from Anfield.Result over performanceConsidering how the last few weeks have gone for Liverpool, three points against Villa was the main priority regardless of the performance put in.The first 20 minutes suggested it would be a similar story for Slot's side, but they grew into the game and were arguably deserved winners. Liverpool have not yet hit heights reached last season, but this was arguably their most dominant display of the last few months.Slot's undroppableNo Liverpool player has covered themselves in glory over the last few weeks, but it's fair to say considering he has missed a large chunk of that, Ryan Gravenberch cannot really face much blame and Liverpool looked far better with him in the starting XI.An ankle injury has seen him miss Liverpool's last three games but he was back in the spine against Villa.

While he predominantly plays as the deepest midfielder, the Netherlands international often found himself leading attacks with his presence making Liverpool better in both boxes.He took some time to adjust, with that showcased by Villa dominating the early stages but once he settled, there was arguably no better player on the pitch with his six duels won and nine passes into the final third proving his dominance in every area.While Slot will not want to run Gravenberch into the ground, he quite simply has to feature in all of Liverpool's games going forward.Salah at his bestDespite being one of the best goal-scorers in the Premier League's modern era, Salah is at his lethal best when he has not had enough time to overthink his shot with his last two goals fitting that remit perfectly.A sublime touch and first-time finish against Brentford has been followed up by a low right-footed effort into an empty net after a mistake by Emiliano Martinez. There were a number of moments when Villa players were running into so much space with at least 30 yards between Liverpool's midfield and defence.It has been a problem all season and it still needs fixing.Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content.