Reality bites for jaded Liverpool

Liverpool 1 Aston Villa 3

It was not simply an emphatic home defeat that will have ruined more than one Merseyside Christmas. After all, any mid-table Premier League side — and that’s what Liverpool are on a good day currently — can lose a home game, even to struggling opponents like Villa. Nor was it the timing of this loss, just 24 hours after Anfield manager Brendan Rodgers claimed his team should be aiming as high as second this season, that cut to the bone.

No, the real devastating impact of this loss was provided by the fact that Rodgers was forced to admit after it that many of his obviously exhausted stars, such as teenage winger Raheem Sterling and midfielder Joe Allen, cannot currently be rewarded with a rest because of the lack of quality in the Liverpool squad.