Steven Gerrard spots 'most important' outcome of Liverpool win over Aston Villa

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Liverpool capitalized on this pivotal moment in the second half and, after Ryan Gravenberch doubled the team's lead courtesy of a fortuitous deflection, the Reds began to resemble the side that stormed to Premier League glory in Slot's inaugural season at the helm, with several players showing signs of returning form. Gerrard greets his fellow Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah after the win over Aston Villa (Image: Getty Images) "Most importantly, the two most important players in Liverpool's squad - Van Dijk and Salah - are both back smiling," said the ex-Villa boss on TNT Sports.

"Van Dijk is smiling because of the clean sheet and how the team defended tonight - and the star man, Salah, scored the goal, and he's smiling. We put it on them before the game that they had to be the ones to step forward, and they've both stepped forward." Van Dijk's and Salah's Anfield legacies are already cemented in history, but alongside Slot, they faced scrutiny for their displays as the Reds' form plummeted.

It's easy to blame the older players, but he knows, obviously, as well as everyone else, we do it together, trying to help each and every one of us to try to get out of this, and, like I said as well, last year, when things go well, you don't hear that at all. The Egyptian forward commented: "I said at the beginning it is a very tricky season for us, we have a few new players, very good signings, but they need time to adapt to the team, and we lost a few good players as well.