Five talking points: Liverpool were held by Aston Villa, and their opportunity to go 10 clear was lost.

Liverpool missed the opportunity to go ten points ahead of Arsenal, but Aston Villa held them to an entertaining 2-2 draw as the Reds increased their lead to eight points at the top.

Andres Garcia’s terrible mistake on his first Villa start gave the visitors the lead when Diogo Jota squared the ball for Mohamed Salah to score. Villa then pulled even when Youri Tielemans scored after Liverpool failed to clear.

Before halftime, Ollie Watkins headed home Lucas Digne’s cross to give Villa the lead. Jota then hit the crossbar from a distance.

Following a deflected effort by Trent Alexander-Arnold to tie the score, Darwin Nunez, a Reds substitute, missed a fantastic opportunity after being found by Dominik Szoboszlai. Donyell Malen, a Villa substitute, then came very close to winning it with the last kick. These are the key talking points about the game.

        Marcus Rashford was making his first start for Aston Villa

What immediately caught your attention about both sides was how different they appeared from how we typically perceive them. Garcia, Axel Disasi, Marco Asensio, and Marcus Rashford were all committed from the beginning, and all but Disasi made their first starts for the team. In Villa’s case, this was due to their personnel.

Salah and Jota were the only two recognized forwards, so there was a slight change from Liverpool’s selections, which have been mostly consistent throughout the season.

The visitors got off to a strong start, but Villa quickly overcame that. It appeared that Arne Slot wanted his team to gain more control in the middle of the pitch with Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones.

               Mo Salah fired Liverpool ahead at Villa Park

Unai Emery is known to never back down from a challenge, and in the first half, Villa seemed to view defeating the Liverpool press as a test they had to pass. They typically did, but ultimately it cost them to play out from the back.

The Portuguese, who otherwise appeared rusty in front of goal, was always going to lay it off to Salah for the opening goal and his 38th goal contribution in the Premier League this season after Garcia passed the ball straight to Jota on the corner of his own penalty area (Cristiano Ronaldo scored 37 in that incredible 2007–08 campaign).

At the time, it seemed like Villa had just survived the pressure from Liverpool, but they lost because of a crucial error.

With Liverpool leading 1-0 and looking to punish Villa’s high line, you may have assumed that this matchup was set up for success. However, the hosts were able to gain control thanks to a combination of Villa’s tenacity and their own poor play.

When the Villa attackers gained momentum, Liverpool’s defense and midfield were far too reactive, so it was not shocking when Tielemans scored after multiple failed attempts to break through Liverpool’s defense.

At the end of the first half, Digne advanced down the left and skillfully crossed for Watkins to head home, but worse was to come for the Reds. Liverpool was stunned because Villa had put just the right amount of pressure on them, and it had paid off.

Villa had a few chances to increase their lead after Liverpool’s poor start to the second half, most notably when Rashford rounded Alisson but was unable to complete from the penalty spot.

That may have been the incident that concentrated Liverpool’s attention, and soon the visitors took control of the game, winning a string of corners before they equalized by taking advantage of Villa’s insistence on pushing forward. Salah and Alexander-Arnold nearly insisted the ball crossed the line, with Salah scoring through a deflection.

   Liverpool are now eight points clear

Arsenal now has the tantalizing advantage of a game in hand after a chance to go ten points ahead was lost.

Slot will highlight how tough these games have been, with easier games coming up after the games against Manchester City and Newcastle next week. This challenging run of games was always going to give Liverpool the opportunity to go on a run. However, the Reds will need to quickly resume winning on a regular basis because they are losing their hold on this league.