Liverpool end record Anfield losing streak after 'outstanding' Trent Alexander-Arnold hits winner against Aston Villa

Trent Alexander-Arnold's injury time winner ended Liverpool's record run of home defeats to beat Aston Villa 2-1 as the Premier League champions continued their resurgence on Saturday. Liverpool had lost their previous six games at Anfield and fell behind again when Alisson Becker failed to keep out Ollie Watkins's first-half strike. The Reds were then controversially denied an equaliser as a dubious VAR review ruled out Roberto Firmino's reply. But Mohamed Salah levelled just before the hour mark before Alexander-Arnold responded in style to the criticism he has received of late. The right-back was dropped from England manager Gareth Southgate's squad last month and was at fault for Real Madrid's second goal as Liverpool lost the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against the Spanish giants 3-1 on Tuesday. Alexander-Arnold's attacking output has been a prominent part of Liverpool's success in the last three seasons under Jurgen Klopp and the 22-year-old showed what he can do with a brilliant finish to curl the ball into the far corner. "We can stop that chat about Trent, everyone agrees that he is an outstanding player," Klopp said. "It's Gareth Southgate's decision what he does for the [England] squad but we don't have to talk about it every week." After back-to-back league wins for the first time in 2021, Liverpool started brightly in an attempt to put their Anfield hoodoo behind them. However, it was Aston Villa, without talismanic captain Jack Grealish, who went ahead when Alisson failed to get a strong enough arm to a Watkins shot that went straight down the middle of the goal. Liverpool thought they had levelled before the break when Firmino turned home a loose ball at the back post, but his goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review for offside against Diogo Jota in the build-up despite inconclusive evidence. To their credit, Liverpool got their reward on 57 minutes when Salah headed home his 28th goal of the season after Emiliano Martinez could only parry Andy Robertson's powerful strike. Klopp introduced Thiago Alcantara, Sadio Mane and Xherdan Shaqiri off the bench in a bid for a winner and the changes made the desired impact. Martinez produced another stunning save to deny Thiago turning home Shaqiri's cross, but the loose ball came to Alexander-Arnold, who with Southgate in attendance, fired a timely reminder of the quality he possesses. "Finally! It was a great game, a tough game but we won and that was the most important thing," Salah said. "We have lost a couple of games here and mentally it was like 'oh no, not again' but we did a good job second-half."

Liverpool end record Anfield losing streak after 'outstanding' Trent Alexander-Arnold hits winner against Aston Villa

Premier League champions make it third win in a row but first at home after six straight defeats