First-half goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel gave Liverpool a comfortable victory over a lacklustre Aston Villa at Villa Park.
The Reds were two-up within 15 minutes and, but for the woodwork denying them yet again, they could have racked up more against a Villa side which offered nothing in response.
Reds' boss Kenny Dalglish sprung a surprise in his starting line-up by rewarding Jonjo Shelvey for a stunning on-loan spell at Blackpool, for which he was named Championship Player of the Month, with a place in the Liverpool midfield. Once again, Andy Carroll had to make do with a place on the bench. For Villa, Alex McLeish was left short in numbers up front due to the unavailability of suspended top-scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor and the injured Darren Bent.
The visitors started quickly with ex-Villain Stewart Downing, who was starting on the right, cut in and forced keeper Brad Guzan to turn the ball out for a corner. From the resulting Downing corner, Shelvey cleverly flicked the ball on at the near post to Suarez, whose own backflick was blocked by Guzan, only for Bellamy to gleefully tap home from six yards.
Only four minutes later, the lead was doubled and it again came from a set-piece. Goalscorer Bellamy turned provider, firing in a corner from which Skrtel rose highest to head inside the far post. It capped a fine run of form for the Slovakian who once again impressed alongside Daniel Agger, with Reds' stalwart Jamie Carragher once again on the bench.
The Reds continued to boss possession, with the midfield trio of Shelvey, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson combining well, whilst the pace and trickery of Bellamy, and Suarez to a lesser extent, was a constant threat.
As the half reached a climax, the home side eventually got hold of the ball, but despite the efforts of Charles N'zogbia in particular, they were unable to test the unworked Pepe Reina.
Straight after the restart, Liverpool nearly made it three, when the impressive Bellamy crossed to the far post from where Agger headed wide when he should really have done better.
By his own very high standards, Suarez had look quiet, probably due to the fact he had only trained twice in a week due to the ongoing disciplinary hearing into allegations of racism towards Patrice Evra. But he burst into life early in the second-half. When a through ball set the Uruguayan away, the chance looked to have gone, before he wriggled past Richard Dunne and fired a shot against the Villa bar.
Minutes later, he hit the woodwork again. He received the ball on the edge of the box, turned and brilliantly sent a chip over Guzan but against the far post. It was the 17th time already that Liverpool have hit the woodwork this season, with Suarez the main victim.
Adam was next to go close, when he broke into the visitors defence and saw his shot deflect narrowly wide. although the Scottish midfielder may have been better playing in the unmarked Shelvey.
The rest of the game was played out like a training session with Liverpool able to take off main men Suarez and Bellamy ahead of the busy Christmas schedule, whilst Carragher returned to Premier league action by coming on in a holding midfielder role, a throwback to his debut when he played that position against Villa in 1996.
The win moves the Reds above Newcastle United into 6th place, level on points with Arsenal. It was Dalglish's first win as Liverpool manager at Villa, whilst with the Reds wearing their controversial new away kit for the first time, it was a first for the travelling Kop to be cheering on the team in Blue and white.
The Reds were two-up within 15 minutes and, but for the woodwork denying them yet again, they could have racked up more against a Villa side which offered nothing in response.
Reds' boss Kenny Dalglish sprung a surprise in his starting line-up by rewarding Jonjo Shelvey for a stunning on-loan spell at Blackpool, for which he was named Championship Player of the Month, with a place in the Liverpool midfield. Once again, Andy Carroll had to make do with a place on the bench. For Villa, Alex McLeish was left short in numbers up front due to the unavailability of suspended top-scorer Gabriel Agbonlahor and the injured Darren Bent.
The visitors started quickly with ex-Villain Stewart Downing, who was starting on the right, cut in and forced keeper Brad Guzan to turn the ball out for a corner. From the resulting Downing corner, Shelvey cleverly flicked the ball on at the near post to Suarez, whose own backflick was blocked by Guzan, only for Bellamy to gleefully tap home from six yards.
Only four minutes later, the lead was doubled and it again came from a set-piece. Goalscorer Bellamy turned provider, firing in a corner from which Skrtel rose highest to head inside the far post. It capped a fine run of form for the Slovakian who once again impressed alongside Daniel Agger, with Reds' stalwart Jamie Carragher once again on the bench.
The Reds continued to boss possession, with the midfield trio of Shelvey, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson combining well, whilst the pace and trickery of Bellamy, and Suarez to a lesser extent, was a constant threat.
As the half reached a climax, the home side eventually got hold of the ball, but despite the efforts of Charles N'zogbia in particular, they were unable to test the unworked Pepe Reina.
Straight after the restart, Liverpool nearly made it three, when the impressive Bellamy crossed to the far post from where Agger headed wide when he should really have done better.
By his own very high standards, Suarez had look quiet, probably due to the fact he had only trained twice in a week due to the ongoing disciplinary hearing into allegations of racism towards Patrice Evra. But he burst into life early in the second-half. When a through ball set the Uruguayan away, the chance looked to have gone, before he wriggled past Richard Dunne and fired a shot against the Villa bar.
Minutes later, he hit the woodwork again. He received the ball on the edge of the box, turned and brilliantly sent a chip over Guzan but against the far post. It was the 17th time already that Liverpool have hit the woodwork this season, with Suarez the main victim.
Adam was next to go close, when he broke into the visitors defence and saw his shot deflect narrowly wide. although the Scottish midfielder may have been better playing in the unmarked Shelvey.
The rest of the game was played out like a training session with Liverpool able to take off main men Suarez and Bellamy ahead of the busy Christmas schedule, whilst Carragher returned to Premier league action by coming on in a holding midfielder role, a throwback to his debut when he played that position against Villa in 1996.
The win moves the Reds above Newcastle United into 6th place, level on points with Arsenal. It was Dalglish's first win as Liverpool manager at Villa, whilst with the Reds wearing their controversial new away kit for the first time, it was a first for the travelling Kop to be cheering on the team in Blue and white.
Liverpool News 24/7
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