Aston Villa Stun Liverpool With Sensational 7-2 Win

Ollie Watkins Fires Hat-Trick as Villa Climb to Second

Liverpool Suffer Embarrassing Defeat Against Resurgent Aston Villa

Aston Villa produced a sensational performance to stun reigning Premier League champions Liverpool 7-2 at Villa Park on Sunday. Ollie Watkins stole the show with a superb first-half hat-trick, while Jack Grealish was involved in five of Villa's goals.

Liverpool, who were without star forward Mohamed Salah due to a positive COVID-19 test, were completely outplayed by a rampant Villa side. Watkins opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a fine finish from close range, and he doubled the lead just 13 minutes later with a brilliant header.

Grelish then set up Anwar El Ghazi for Villa's third goal in the 35th minute, and Watkins completed his hat-trick just two minutes later with a clinical strike from inside the box. Liverpool pulled one back through Sadio Mane in the 43rd minute, but Villa restored their four-goal advantage just before the break through Ross Barkley.

Liverpool made a brighter start to the second half and reduced the deficit to 5-2 through Mohamed Salah in the 55th minute. However, Villa continued to create chances and added two more goals through Grealish and El Ghazi in the final 20 minutes to seal a famous victory.

The result sees Aston Villa climb to second place in the Premier League table, while Liverpool drop to sixth. It is Liverpool's first league defeat since February and their heaviest since April 2018.