Liverpool squandered a two-goal lead late in Jurgen Klopp's penultimate match as the club's manager as Aston Villa fought tooth and nail to secure a draw in the Premier League and step closer toward Champions League qualification, eventually drawing 3-3.
There's been an acute drop-off within this talented Liverpool side in the past few months, who, let's be honest, were performing above expectations for much of this emotional campaign, turbo-charged by the brilliant guiding light of Klopp's swansong.
Frailties were glaring at Villa Park, but so too were the strengths and the style of a team still developing, yet to enter its new era under Arne Slot.
The future of vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold remains up in the air, out of contract at the end of the 2024/25 season and reportedly attracting ominous attention from Real Madrid, and while he's a world-class player, he will be displeased with his effort against Unai Emery's side.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance vs Villa
Alexander-Arnold has endured a bit of a frustrating campaign for Liverpool, producing some resounding performances when Klopp's team was at its best throughout the opening half of the campaign before falling prey to injuries that have disrupted much of the latter half of the term.
Still, he's bagged three goals and nine assists in all competitions and has started Liverpool's past five top-flight fixtures, but he flattered to deceive against the Villans.
Minutes played
90'
Touches
82
Accurate passes
49/58 (84%)
Shots on target
1
Shots off target
1
Key passes
1
Possession lost
16x
Tackles
1
Interceptions
2
Error leading to shot
1
Duels won
1/7
Dribbled past
5x
It wasn't a dreadful display but it did leave plenty to be desired, with The Liverpool Echo's Ian Doyle handing the creative full-back a 6/10 match rating, noting his early attempts to push forward and affect the play but gradual shift into a more defensive role to deal with the hosts' advances.
The reporter wrote: 'Regularly drifted into a central midfield position early on but forced into more defending before break and second half more one of attrition. Denied by Martinez with one thunderbolt.'
But Doyle's thoughts do not hone in on the dismal defensive efforts that allowed Villa to slice through the Reds' defence with ease at times, winning just one duel out of seven battles all night and also being dribbled past five times.
The 25-year-old also made an error and created just one key pass. He might have fired a ferocious strike at Emiliano Martinez but this was not a good demonstration of his superabundance of talent.
As The Athletic's James Pearce aptly puts it: "Defensive issues for Slot to address this summer. One clean sheet in the last 16 PL games tells a story."
Last season, a horribly substandard and disjointed Liverpool side shipped 47 goals in the Premier League; this term, if a clean sheet is kept against Wolverhampton Wanderers on the closing day of the campaign this weekend, that figure will have been bettered only by six.
There is much work to do, and while Slot and all involved at Liverpool would despair at the thought of Alexander-Arnold plying his trade elsewhere, he will need to improve in the defensive third – this felt like something of a regression.
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