Salah was the star of the show as a dogged Liverpool battled to a 3-1 win over Villa in a thrilling Boxing Day fixture
Liverpool secured a third straight Premier League win for the first time this season as they defeated Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park
Aston Villa vs Liverpool first half
Liverpool came into this game hoping to keep their top-four hopes alive with a win and Jurgen Klopp sent out a very positive side to get the job done.
The first half started in excellent fashion as Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool after just five minutes, tapping in from an Andy Robertson cross. Van Dijk doubled the advantage late in the half when his shot deflected into the far corner of the net.
Liverpool withstand Villa fightback
Aston Villa came out in the second-half salvo looking sharper and pressing higher. Their perseverance paid off when Ollie Watkins expertly-placed header halved the deficit.
The chances continued to flow at both ends in a wide-open contest with Darwin Nunez particularly wasteful, however, Stefan Bajcetic came off the bench to score his first senior goal and seal the points for Liverpool.