Liverpool continued Arne Slot’s dream start to his tenure with a confident 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday night. The Reds dominated early on, eventually capitalising as Mo Salah ran clear on the counter and Darwin Nunez collected the ball to fire past Emi Martinez. Both sides had chances in the rest of the first half, with Villa forcing two great saves from Kelleher, though the first half ended with the home side ahead. The second half was a far less eventful affair, with Liverpool dominating possession but both sides finding it difficult to carve out clear-cut chances. As Villa chased an equaliser, Salah chased a clearance and came off better, with the ball deflecting into his path to take him one-v-one by the halfway line. The Egyptian raced to the Villa box and calmly lifted a chip over Martinez to finish the match and take Liverpool back to the summit of the Premier League.
Premier League Standings
Top of the Champions League and now five points clear at the top of the Premier League, Arne Slot is the low-key appointment making Liverpool high-flyers. A 15th win in 17 games cemented a spectacular start for the Dutchman. Now Manchester City find themselves in second but as close in points to eighth-place Aston Villa as they are to Liverpool.
And Villa have picked the wrong moment to emulate City. Normally it is an enviable achievement to be in the same form as Pep Guardiola’s side. Not now. Not when it means Villa, too, have suffered four consecutive defeats. Liverpool took one of the supposed strengths of Unai Emery’s side, set-pieces, and turned it into a weakness.
Liverpool’s Form
For the second successive game, Slot chose his striker wisely. It was Luis Diaz against Bayer Leverkusen, an unconventional choice that reaped a dividend when the Colombian delivered the first hat-trick of his career. He duly reverted to the left wing as Darwin Nunez came back to deliver the opener against Villa, with Mohamed Salah doubling the lead to underline how well he is playing. Right now, Slot is in the managerial sweet spot where whatever he tries seems to work. Liverpool, with 12 victories in 13, can testify as much.
How to Watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa Live
The league leaders welcome Unai Emery's side to Anfield. In-form Liverpool host an Aston Villa side that has hit a sticky patch in Saturday's final Premier League fixture of the day at Anfield.
Arne Slot's side are on a six-match unbeaten run and come into this clash off the back of an impressive 4-0 win at home against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. After their superb start to the season, Villa are now on an unwanted run of three defeats in a row across all competitions. The visitors have never lost four consecutive games under manager Unai Emery, and the Spaniard will be determined to avoid hitting that dubious landmark as they look to battle their way back into the top four.
Below, we'll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the match as it happens, wherever you are in the world.
Watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa in the US
Saturday's Liverpool vs. Aston Villa match is streaming on Peacock. You'll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live.
Peacock offers two Premium plans, and after the recent price increases, the ad-supported Premium plan costs $8 a month and the ad-free Premium Plus plan is $14 a month.
Watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa in the UK
Saturday's evening kickoff is exclusive to TNT Sports -- with the game showing on its TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1 HD channels, as well as TNT Sports Ultimate in 4K.
TNT Sports will be offering a sizable 52 matches exclusively live this season to viewers in the UK. You can access TNT Sports via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes the Discovery Plus library of documentary content.
Watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa in Canada
If you want to stream this EPL game live in Canada, you'll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. The service has exclusive rights to every Premier League fixture once again this season.
Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the EPL this season, with exclusive streaming rights to every match. It costs CA$30 per month, though you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually.
Watch Liverpool vs Aston Villa in Australia
Football fans down under can watch EPL matches live on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 season live in Australia.
With exclusive rights to stream all EPL matches live this season, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans.
If you're already an Optus network customer, you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 per month. If you're not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25.
Using a VPN to Watch EPL Games
If you find yourself unable to view EPL matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games -- that's where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it's also a great idea if you're traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you're able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors' Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you're streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you'll get three months free and save 49%. That's the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
More About the Match
Liverpool faces Aston Villa in a Premier League match on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 (11/9/24) at Anfield in Liverpool, England.
How to watch: Fans can watch the game via a subscription to Peacock.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: Premier League Who: Liverpool vs. Aston Villa When: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 Time: 3 p.m. Where: Anfield TV: N/A Live stream: Peacock
Liverpool’s Recent Form
Liverpool, England (AP) — Arne Slot vs. Xabi Alonso had the makings of an epic battle.
In the end it was the Liverpool coach who cruised to victory against the man many believed was destined to take over at Anfield this season.
A hat trick from Luis Diaz and a goal from Cody Gakpo saw Liverpool beat German champion Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday and further endear Slot to the Merseyside club’s fans, who joyously sang his name at the end.
“People singing for a manager is not that common, at least not in Holland,” Slot said.
It all seems so easy for the Dutchman, who replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer and has led Liverpool to the top of the Premier League and now the Champions League after an outstanding start to his reign.
That’s win number 14 from his 16 games in charge, but this felt particularly symbolic, given his rival in the opposition dugout.
Slot seems too level-headed to have concerned himself with the subplot of facing Alonso, who is arguably the most sought-after young coach in Europe and someone who was considered a leading candidate to succeed Klopp at Liverpool.
A former Champions League-winning player for the club, the stars seemed to align when Klopp made the surprise announcement in January that he would step down at the end of last season. At that time Alonso was well on the way to leading Leverkusen to an undefeated domestic campaign and a German league and cup double.
Slot’s name seemed a long way from the conversation.
Wind the clock forward and Alonso, who was also linked another his former clubs, Bayern Munich, shut down talk of moving anywhere when declaring he would remain at Leverkusen.
Liverpool looked elsewhere, Slot was the man chosen to succeed Klopp and it could hardly have gone better for him or the club.
The former Feyenoord coach is making light work of filling the void left by an Anfield icon and one of the most successful managers of his generation. These are early days, but Liverpool looks ready to challenge for the biggest titles right from the off under the new manager.
Instead of feeling the pressure of living up to the standards set by Klopp, who won a full set of trophies, including the Premier League and Champions, Slot is embracing it.
“We want to be there where we are now, we want to compete for everything,” he said. “Therefore you have to accept that if you work here or play here, that there’s pressure.”
Leverkusen may not be the force it was last season, having won just three of its last nine games in all competitions, but this was still a hugely impressive result for Slot’s team.
It was Leverkusen’s heaviest loss in more than two years — since a 5-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in Alonso’s third game in charge.
“It can happen that you come to Anfield and lose. To lose 4-0 is not nice. They are a top, top team and they punished us,” Alonso said.
There was the potential for a very different narrative on the night. One where Alonso — whose name was also sung by the home crowd — made a triumphant return and showed Liverpool what they might have had if he’d been the one to succeed Klopp.
And even in defeat, his reputation remains high after leading Leverkusen to its first German title and ending Bayern’s 11-year reign as champion. Only a loss to Atalanta in the final of the Europa League prevented him from completing a trophy treble.
Little wonder he has been talked of as a future manager of Europe’s grandest clubs, including Real Madrid.
But Liverpool looks to be in good hands with Slot, whose rise has been more understated.
Despite winning the Dutch league with Feyenoord, he was not an obvious choice to step into Klopp’s shoes.
He doesn’t exude the same charisma as the German on the sidelines. He doesn’t fire up the crowd or the players with the type chest thumping that Klopp was famed for.
Yet he has quietly taken to the job with impressive ease and his team is doing its talking on the field.
A record of eight wins from 10 in the Premier League has Liverpool leading the way ahead of four-time defending champion Manchester City.
A 100% start in the Champions League now leaves the rest of Europe’s top clubs in Liverpool’s wake — City and reigning champion Real Madrid included.
“Things have gone so well with the new manager, it wasn’t easy for him to come in and fill Jurgen Klopp’s shoes,” Diaz said. “Hopefully, we’ll have something to show for it at the end of the season.”
