There wasn’t quite champagne football from the newly crowned Premier League champions on their triumphant return to Anfield but, make no mistake, this was a fitting performance.
This season, Liverpool make an artform out of getting three points by hook or crook, even when they haven’t been able to play their best football.
Aston Villa had already had a taste of that this term, seeing a 1-0 lead turn into a 2-1 defeat in injury-time when the sides met in Birmingham back in November.
Yet again here, Dean Smith’s side were a match for their illustrious hosts for large periods, limiting them creatively and showing sufficient threat to perhaps nick a win.
But then Jurgen Klopp’s men pulled off their customary trick to walk away with a 2-0 victory that their opponent might wonder whether they actually deserved.
It wasn’t pretty, but then winning titles can’t always be. And, as the current champions of England, nobody can know that better than Liverpool.
Midfield experiment fails
If there is one area of the remarkable Liverpool team Klopp has assembled that isn’t universally adored, it is the midfield.
No matter how many successes Georginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson are at the centre of, they cannot seem to win over a certain section of the fanbase or convince rival fans of their worth.
And so some will have been delighted to see both benched today as Klopp went with what is, on paper, his most creative central midfield.
Unfortunately for the critics, football is played on grass, and after 60 minutes featuring a solitary shot on target, the manager was forced to bring his engine room experiment to an end with a triple substitution.
It is often said that the next step for this Liverpool side is to find more creativity from central areas to account for opponents shutting down any space out wide.
And, in fairness, there have been a handful of games in recent years where Wijnaldum and Henderson’s shortcomings in terms of cuteness around the box have been shown up.
But, on this evidence, Klopp’s current alternatives do not represent an improvement, and he is fully justified in going with tried and tested for the foreseeable future.
Big summer awaits Origi
As his sixth Premier League start of the season ended in a disappointing early withdrawal, you wondered for just how much longer Divock Origi will be happy with his lot.
The Belgian is coming to the end of his sixth season as a Liverpool player, and he looks no closer to nailing down a regular starting spot than at the start of that journey.
He remains a fine option off the bench, a Premier League and Champions League winner, and a club legend by virtue of his memorable contributions to the latter success.
But will he really want to spend another campaign feeding on scraps in this manner?
Football careers are famously short and, should Origi want to make the most of his, then he may wish to consider seeking more regular game time elsewhere this summer.
Liverpool would, of course, expect to receive a decent fee, but they could view a parting of the ways as mutually beneficial.
Perfect week for youngster Jones
Curtis Jones’ contract didn’t really need extending this week, but that it was said everything about how he is regarded at Anfield.
The young Scouser’s improved terms are recognition of the developmental steps he has taken of late, and the bigger role he is set to take on next term.
Adam Lallana’s departure on a free transfer is expected to open up opportunities for Jones, who is most comfortable in the central attacking midfield position also favoured by his countryman.
And he showed that he is ready to take on that mantle with a maiden Premier League goal that required a perfectly timed arrival into the box and a cool finish.
What a week for the teenager.