Game #4043
Aston Villa
Tuesday, 3 January 1989
Lost
16th (-3)
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥
Division One
Attendance: 39,014
Liverpool
Anfield
Nigel Spink has another difficult game in the blustery conditions at Anfield as Villa lose by a single goal having faced the two main title protagonists in consecutive games.
Liverpool
1-0
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | None
KEY MAN
Nigel Spink, survived several blunders in the conditions.
PREVIOUS MATCH
NEXT MATCH
MATCH TIMELINE
Tuesday, 3 January 1989
🕒 | HT Liverpool 0-0 Aston Villa
🔁 | 58’ Sub off, Alan McInally, Sub on, Ian Olney
🥅 | 66’ Goal, 0-1, (Liverpool), Ronnie Whelan
🔁 | 78’ Sub off, Gordon Cowans, Sub on, Andy Gray
🕒 | FT Liverpool 1-0 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Graham Taylor's Villa lose for the second successive League game and fall to 16th in the table.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1981-82
Liverpool
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1987-88
FIXTURE HISTORY
Liverpool
Previous 5 vs. Liverpool: 🟥 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟨
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 1988-89 |
Matchday | #26 |
League Match | #20 |
Manager Game | #77 |
Tuesday, 3 January 1989
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: Graham Taylor | 🏴 | Worksop, 1987-1990
Referee: Roger Dilkes | 🏴 | Mossley, Lancashire, 1983-1998
Kick off: 7.30pm
HT Score: 🟨 0-0
FT Result: 🟥 Lost
FT Score: 🟥 0-1
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟥 🟥
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Roger Dilkes | 🏴 | Mossley, Lancashire, 1983-1998
Previous 5: 🟨 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 26 December 1985, Villa 1-3 Leicester, Filbert Street.
Cards: 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Martin Keown replaces Andy Gray.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 26.69 |
Oldest Player |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 | 32.25 |
Youngest Player |
W Tony Daley | 🏴 | 21.23 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
Graham Taylor | 🏴 |
Kenny Dalglish | 🏴 |
Aston Villa
GK Nigel Spink | 🏴 |
RB Chris Price | 🏴 |
CB Martin Keown | 🏴 |
CB Allan Evans | 🏴 |
CB Derek Mountfield | 🏴 |
RB Kevin Gage | 🏴 |
M Stuart Gray | 🏴 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 | 🔁 |
M David Platt | 🏴 |
W Tony Daley | 🏴 |
CF Alan McInally | 🏴 | 🔁 |
Liverpool
GK Mike Hooper | 🏴 |
LB David Burrows | 🏴 |
CB Gary Ablett | 🏴 |
CB Steve Nicol | 🏴 |
M Ray Houghton | 🇮🇪 |
M Steve McMahon (ex) | 🏴 |
M Ronnie Whelan | 🇮🇪 | ⚽ |
M Jan Mølby | 🇳🇴 |
W John Barnes | 🏴 |
CF Peter Beardsley | 🏴 |
CF John Aldridge | 🇮🇪 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | CF Ian Olney | 🏴 | for CF Alan McInally | 🏴 | 58’ |
🔁 | M Andy Gray | 🏴 | for M Gordon Cowans | 🏴 | 78’ |
SUBSTITUTES
No Substitutions Made
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
None
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
CB Alex Watson | 🏴 |
M Nigel Spackman | 🏴 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 11/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 13/13
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 7/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 9/13
MATCHDAY SQUAD
UNAVAILABLE
Not recorded
UNAVAILABLE
Not Recorded
Player Abbreviations:
GK : Goalkeeper
LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back
CB, D : Centre Back, Defender
M, W : Midfielder. Winger
F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game
Symbols:
⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution
🟨 | Booking
🟥 | Sending off
🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
DEBUT APPEARANCES
FINAL APPEARANCES
MATCH STATS
Not recorded
TABLE

PROGRAMME



MATCHDAY QUOTES
"Spink had-survived a couple of remarkable first half blunders, in which the gusty conditions may have played a part."
*Irish Independent*
Wednesday, 4 January 1989
LIVERPOOL captain Ronnie Whelan grabbed his first goal for the club in over a year to set his side on course for a badly-needed home win against Aston Villa at Anfield last night.
His 66th minute headed goal was a scrambled affair typical of an untidy, mistake-littered match on an ice cold windy Merseyside night.
It came after Ray Houghton crossed from the right and John Aldridge challenged Allan Evans in the Villa area.
Whelan stooped to lob the ball wide of a diving Nigel Spink amidst the confusion. Spink had-survived a couple of remarkable first half blunders, in which the gusty conditions may have played a part.
He fumbled a Houghton corner under the cross bar after 14 minutes, only for Stuart Gray to hack the ball clear off the line. Three minutes later he should easily have cut out Houghton's cross-field pass, but raced out of his area and missed the ball completely, only for Aldridge to slide the wide of an empty net.
Peter Beardsley twice drove narrowly wide and Whelan struck two powerful shots over the Villa bar in the first half, but Spink never tested again until Aldridge flicked Beardsley's cross into his arms four minutes into the second half.
Steve Nicol burst through to head Steve McMahon's cross just over the Villa cross bar on the hour and Spink did well to block Aldridge's close range effort after 77 minutes.
Villa, for their industry, rarely threatened and lost most of their attacking menace when Alan Mclnally went off injured after 58 minutes.
He and Platt had carved out Villa's best chance for Stuart Gray after a McMahon blunder in the 25th minute, but Liverpool Mike Hooper blocked Gray's close-range shot with his legs.
Then Gordon Cowans hooked a dipping shot just over the Liverpool bar after 52 minutes.