Aston Villa take on Liverpool on Saturday in a match that sparks memories of the Midlands club’s greatest Premier League outing.
Few people would ever want to cast their minds back to 2020, a time when the world was an eerie place.
Face masks became a part of people’s daily accessories, football stadiums were as quiet as a forgotten memory and fans were famously charged £14.95 to watch Sheffield United vs Fulham on pay-per-view.
It’s fair to say that the bad often outweighed the good in those dark times but in October of that year, Aston Villa fans were treated to an unscripted evening of much-needed joy and entertainment.
Liverpool had ended their 30-year wait for the Premier League title just three-months earlier as the covid-affected 2019/20 season ran over into the summer months.
Jurgen Klopp’s side continued their momentum into the new campaign, kicking the season off with three wins from three tough opening fixtures against Leeds, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Dean Smith’s Aston Villa were also in good form having won their two opening league games but nothing prepared us for what was to follow that evening at Villa Park.
And it didn’t take long to burst into life.
Ollie Watkins, who had signed for Villa from Brentford for £28million the previous month, was first off the mark and was in the right place at the right time to punish Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian’s costly error.
The goal was the product of some stellar work from Jack Grealish and the then Villa captain was at it again, terrorising the Liverpool defender before teeing up Watkins for his second of the evening.
Mohamed Salah‘s fine finish reduced the deficit for a total of two minutes before John McGinn’s deflected effort restored Villa’s two-goal advantage.
Incredibly, we had not even reached half time when a well worked set-piece saw Watkins complete a stunning first-half hattrick to leave the Champions in tatters.
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There was even a little joy for Everton fans who watched former academy star Ross Barkley fire Villa into a 5-1 lead ten-minutes into the second-half.
The Toffees were locked on nine points and behind their city rivals on goal difference. However, Villa were doing their best to help Everton leapfrog Klopp’s men from the comfort of their living rooms.
Such was Villa’s superiority, Salah’s second served merely as a consolation goal despite there still being 30 minutes left to play.
There was still time for captain fantastic Jack Grealish to get his name on the scoresheet, and he did so six-minutes later with a shot that took a deflection off Fabinho.
Grealish wasn’t done yet and his deft chip handed his side a seventh and final goal in the 75th minute.
It was a night Aston Villa fans will never forget but one that they were regrettably unable to attend due to the restrictions on social gatherings.
In contrast, it was an evening best left in the past for Klopp who later accused his side of relinquishing all control.
“It looked like we lost the plot after it went to 1-0,” he said after the match.
“Who wants to lose 7-2?” Klopp added. “Years ago we told ourselves we wanted to create history. That was history but obviously the wrong type.
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“We had big chances which we did not use, but when you concede seven I’m not sure you can say it would have been 7-7.
“We made too many mistakes and massive ones obviously. It started with the first goal and around the goals we made massive mistakes.”
Meanwhile, Aston Villa boss Smith admitted the result was beyond his wildest dreams.
“I’m so, so proud of the players, they executed the gameplan to perfection,” he said.
“They showed quality, but my biggest pleasure was the work-rate.
“If you get out-worked by Liverpool, you get beat. They’re an exceptional team.
“When somebody like Jurgen Klopp at the end of the game says ‘wow’ to you, you know you’ve done something special.
“And that was a special performance. The problem for the lads now is I’ll be expecting it all the time.
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“It was a wow factor, there wasn’t anybody out there who didn’t dig deep and put in a real shift.”
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa team will be hoping for more of the same when his side visit leaders Liverpool on Saturday evening.
The Reds sit two points clear at the top of the table while Villa will be hoping to return to winning ways after three-consecutive defeats across all competitions.