On the face of it, a 0-0 draw away at a side with genuine top four ambitions isn’t such a bad deal especially if your best two players are out injured. Such justifications may be easy to find yet it is wrong to find comfort in them for the truth is that Liverpool could have won at Villa Park. For all the hype surrounding them, with their hyped up wide players being kept quite Aston Villa didn’t show anything special. Then again, neither did Liverpool and this time they couldn’t find it in them to find a late winner making this very much two points dropped rather than one gained.

Good Game
He didn’t have to much to do, yet when he was needed Pepe Reina was always up to the job. So far, he’s been Liverpool’s best player this season which says a lot about how the team has been playing.

Alvaro Arbeloa is a player who, for some reason, a section of Liverpool’s support doesn’t really have a liking for. On today’s evidence it is hard to see why because Ashley Young hardly got past him once and he was always willing to move forward even though this season he’s being much more cautious when doing the latter.

The opposite applies to Martin Skrtel who has rapidly become something of a cult hero. With good reason, because against Aston Villa he gave another strong display regardless of whether he had to deal with the brute strength of John Carew or the speed of Gabriel Agbonlahor. Of course, it helps if you have someone of the experience of Jamie Carragher who didn’t put a foot wrong either. The manner in which he inspires those around him means that Gerrard’s leadership skills at least won’t be missed.

Villa Park marked the return of Javier Mascherano and it didn’t take him long to show what Liverpool have missed. Winning the ball, passing and running at defenders: he did it all against Aston Villa. It is clear that he’s desperate and that’s never a bad attribute to have either.

Mascherano would have normally walked away with the best player award but today he was overshadowed by Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard was off colour in the first games but, whether spurred on by the desire to show that he is better than Gareth Barry or the result of a changed tactical arrangement, he got to control the midfield and marshall Liverpool’s play. Given Gerrard’s absence, it will be up to Alonso to take control of midfield and, based on this game, he well on his way to doing so.

Dirk Kuyt was his usual self, running about and chasing for loose balls. The goal against Liege has given him renewed confidence and hopefully he’ll be able to build on that. Perhaps the most promising thing to come out of Liverpool’s game is Robbie Keane’s performance. He started off anonymously but once Fernando Torres (who it would be unfair to judge given his early departure) went off, he grew into the role and was Liverpool’s best creative outlet.

If Alonso is the one who Liverpool will be looking to step up during Gerrard’s absence then Keane will have to start paying back the confidence shown in him until Torres gets back.

Bad Game
It is slightly harsh to say that Andrea Dossena had a bad game but he does need to improve. Going forward he’s doing decently enough, sending in some powerful and accurate crosses, but defensively he leaves a lot to be desired. The same applies to Lucas Leiva who put himself about but managed to do very little with the ball.

Substitutes
Seeing David Ngog come on for Fernando Torres was surprising to say the least and the young Frenchman didn’t have the best of debuts. His control was often poor, his passing erratic and he didn’t really seem to know what was being expected of him. Mind, he could have scored with a strong curling shot that was deflected over and this was a nineteen year old making his debut, so expected anything better would have been too much. Still, wouldn’t Ryan Babel have been a better option?

Once again, Fabio Aurelio came on as left midfielder which goes to show how lacking Liverpool are in that area. With others around him tiring, he didn’t get much of the ball or too many opportunities to cause problems. Which sort of applies to Liverpool’s final substitute Yossi Benayoun. Asked to play as the second striker, he was clearly out of his depth and never really managed to get going which, again, raised the question of why Babel wasn’t given a run.