---
title: "Player Ratings: Aston Villa away"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/player-ratings-aston-villa-away/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Bobby Vincent"
section: "Articles"
published: "2015-01-18T08:16:03Z"
modified: "2015-01-18T14:19:15Z"
---

# Player Ratings: Aston Villa away

Liverpool ensured that their fine run of form would continue with a 2-0 win over struggling Aston Villa. A first-half Fabio Borini strike and a second-half Rickie Lambert finish made sure that the three points would be returning to Merseyside.

GK – **Simon Mignolet: 8/10**. Mignolet had a fantastic game in the Liverpool goal. The ‘keeper’s confidence is obviously low and understandably so. Mignolet came for a lot of crosses from corners, and more often than not, caught the ball. That aspect of his game is clearly improving. He made a match-defining save from a Christian Benteke effort in the second-half, too.

RCB – **Emre Can: 7/10**. Can was solid yet again. The German has been ever-present in Brendan Rodgers’ side recently as his development continues. The 20 year-old is looking an integral part of the back three at the moment.

CB – **Martin Skrtel: 7/10**. The Slovak had a decent game, as well. He had to deal with the presence of Christian Benteke and for the most part, Benteke was anonymous. He’s done really well in recent weeks and looks a lot better in this back three as he did in a back four.

LCB – **Mamadou Sakho: 8.5/10**. Sakho was an absolute rock in the Liverpool defence. Like Can, the French international has been a key player in this new formation. His passing was fantastic as always and his defending was faultless today. **My joint man of the match.**

RWB – **Lazar Markovic: 7/10**. After being the man of the match in last week’s win versus Sunderland, Markovic wasn’t quite as influential here. However, the Serb still had a solid game in the wing-back role. His defending today impressed me more than his attacking play. A couple of times he made key tackles to deny Villa an attack.

CM – **Jordan Henderson: 7.5/10**. Henderson was really good against the Villians. His energy allowed him to make some tremendous bursting attacking runs. The most noticeable one, a fantastic cross to Fabio Borini to set up the first goal.

CM – **Lucas Leiva: 7/10**. Lucas had another solid game in the centre of Liverpool’s midfield. There was a patch of the game, when Villa were playing the better football, when Lucas was having a tough time. He recovered, though, and had a mostly solid game.

LWB – **Alberto Moreno: 8.5/10**. The Spaniard was quality. My other co-man of the match with Mamadou Sakho. I couldn’t split the pair. Moreno’s attacking play was different class. He had a disallowed goal in the first-half where he made a terrific run and was a tad unlucky. His blistering pace caused Villa all sorts of problems, especially with Alan Hutton playing very attacking.

AM – **Raheem Sterling: 6.9/10**. The youngster was returning to the side today and looked a tad rusty starting the game. Sterling didn’t look his usual, excellent and highly influential self. He did win some really useful fouls, though, which relieved Liverpool of some pressure.

AM – **Philippe Coutinho: 7.3/10**. The Brazilian was magnificent again as he has been so many times already this season. His consistency, which I always thought was an issue, seems to have improved hugely now. His dribbling and speed on the counter was always a problem for the Villa defence, especially when they were looking for an equalizer.

ST – **Fabio Borini: 7.3/10**.  Borini managed to get just his second goal in the Premier League for the Reds. The Italian took his goal like an accomplished scorer, which he really isn’t. His end product, the majority of the time, let him down. There were a couple of times where he could have lifted his head up and picked a team mate out and didn’t, which was disappointing. A good and improved display from the striker, nonetheless.

Substitute – **Rickie Lambert: 7.5/10**. Lambert, when coming on, was very good. His goal was superb. The striker turned a Villa defender and then matched his touch with a tremendous and perfect finish to seal the game for the away side.

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