Salah shines as Liverpool resume with win

Liverpool have made a winning return to Premier League action in an entertaining 3-1 Boxing Day win at Aston Villa.

Mohamed Salah, whose Egyptian team were not at the World Cup, starred and Spanish teenager Stefan Bajcetic scored his first senior goal.

Virgil van Dijk also scored while Ollie Watkins struck for Villa.

“I liked what I saw,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. “I’m really happy with the performance, and especially the result.”

With Tottenham held at Brentford Liverpool moved within five points of the top four with a game in hand.

“Our position is not good”, said midfielder Firmino, “so it was important to win today.”

Salah handed Liverpool a strong start when, after he converted Andrew Robertson’s delivery from close range.

That made the Scottish left-back the defender with the most Premier League assists in history.

Salah then teed up Van Dijk to steer home a deflected second, though Liverpool came under pressure after Watkins halved the arrears with just over half an hour remaining.

However, Klopp’s side made the points safe late on when 18-year-old substitute Bajcetic made an immediate impact.

Liverpool needed just five minutes to take the lead, with Salah on hand to tap home Robertson’s cross after the left-back latched onto a sublime outside-of-the-foot pass from Trent Alexander Arnold.

A lively first half saw both goalkeepers forced into action, though Watkins should have done better when heading at Alisson before Olsen was tested by Darwin Nunez’s volley.

After a series of narrow escapes, Villa failed to prevent Liverpool from striking again 37 minutes in, as Van Dijk’s left-footed volley deflected in off Ezri Konsa.

The offside flag denied Watkins a goal soon after the restart, but there was to be no reprieve for Liverpool when he nodded Douglas Luiz’s cross home after 59 minutes.

Liverpool then went close to a third through Nunez, but Bajcetic stepped off the bench to calm any nerves, latching onto a loose ball to round Olsen and lash a left-footed finish home.