Game #4674
Saturday, 8 September 2001
Attendance: 44,102
Won
Premier League
8th (+6)
Liverpool
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟩
Anfield
Villa record their first win of the Premier League season as they beat Liverpool at Anfield to climb to eighth in the table after three unbeaten games.
Liverpool
1-3
Aston Villa
Assist(s) | Paul Merson | 31’ | Dion Dublin | 55’ | Olof Mellberg | 86’ |
KEY MAN
Darius Vassell scored late on to give the score a fairer reflection of Villa’s superiority
RELATED MATCHES
MATCH TIMELINE
⚽ | 31’ Goal, 1-0, Dion Dublin, Assist by Paul Merson
🕒 | HT Liverpool 0-1 Aston Villa
🥅 | 46’ Goal, 1-1, (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard
🟨 | 48’ Booking, Olof Mellberg
⚽ | 55’ Goal, 2-1, Lee Hendrie, Assist by Dion Dublin
🟨 | 63’ Booking, Alpay Özalan
🔁 | 70’ Sub off, Paul Merson, Sub on, Mustapha Hadji
🟥 | 74’ Sending off, (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard
⚽ | 86’ Goal, 3-1, Darius Vassell, Assist by Olof Mellberg
🔁 | 89’ Sub off, Lee Hendrie, Sub on, Steve Staunton
🕒 | FT Liverpool 1-3 Aston Villa
ON THIS DAY
Villa make it three games unbeaten to climb to 8th in the table.
Aston Villa
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96
Liverpool
European Cup / Champions League: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
UEFA Cup / Europa League: 🏆🏆🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
Last Trophy: 2000-01
FIXTURE HISTORY
Previous 5 vs. Liverpool: 🟩 🟨 🟨 🟥 🟥
FIXTURE DETAILS
Season | 2001-02 |
Matchday | #9 |
League Game | #3 |
Manager Game | #165 |
Saturday, 8 September 2001
MATCH SUMMARY
Manager: John Gregory | 🏴 | Scunthorpe, 1998-2002
Referee: Andy D'Urso | 🏴 | Essex, 1994-2015
Kick off: 3.00pm
HT Score: 🟩 1-0
FT Score: 🟩 3-1
FT Result: 🟩 Won
Last 5: 🟨 🟨 🟩 🟨 🟩
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Andy D'Urso | 🏴 | Essex, 1994-2015
Previous 5: 🟥 🟨 🟩 🟨
Last Match: 🟨 16 December 2000, Villa 2-2 Manchester City, Villa Park.
Cards: 🟥 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨
CARDS
TEAM NEWS
Dion Dublin returns in place of Juan Pablo Ángel.
TEAM STATS
Starting XI Average Age
| 28.32 |
Oldest Player |
GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 | 37.83 |
Youngest Player |
F Darius Vassell | 🏴 | 21.25 |
MANAGER
MANAGER
John Gregory | 🏴 |
Gérard Houllier | 🇫🇷 |
Aston Villa
GK Peter Schmeichel | 🇩🇰 |
LB Alan Wright | 🏴 |
CB Olof Mellberg | 🇸🇪 | 🟨 | 🔥 |
CB Alpay Özalan | 🇹🇷 | 🟨 |
RB Mark Delaney | 🏴 |
M George Boateng | 🇳🇱 |
M Paul Merson | 🏴 | 🔥 | 🔁 |
M Hassan Kachloul | 🇲🇦 |
M Lee Hendrie | 🏴 | ⚽ | 🔁 |
CF Dion Dublin | 🏴 | ⚽ | 🔥 |
F Darius Vassell | 🏴 | ⚽ |
Liverpool
GK Jerzy Dudek | 🇵🇱 |
LB John Arne Riise | 🇳🇴 | 🔁 |
CB Stéphane Henchoz | 🇨🇭 | 🔁 |
CB Sami Hyypiä | 🇫🇮 |
CB Jamie Carragher | 🏴 | 🟨 |
M Dietmar Hamann | 🇩🇪 |
M Steven Gerrard | 🏴 | ⚽ | 🟥 |
M Nick Barmby | 🏴 | 🟨 | 🔁 |
M Gary McAllister | 🏴 |
CF Emile Heskey | 🏴 |
CF Robbie Fowler | 🏴 |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 M Mustapha Hadji | 🇲🇦 | for M Paul Merson | 🏴 | 70’ |
🔁 LB Steve Staunton | 🇮🇪 | for M Lee Hendrie | 🏴 | 89’ |
SUBSTITUTES
🔁 | LB John Arne Riise | 🇳🇴 | (LB Grégory Vignal | 🇫🇷 | 🟨 |)
🔁 | CB Stéphane Henchoz | 🇨🇭 | (M Danny Murphy | 🏴 |)
🔁 | M Nick Barmby | 🏴 | (F Michael Owen | 🏴 |)
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Peter Enckelman | 🇫🇮 |
W David Ginola | 🇫🇷 |
F Boško Balaban | 🇭🇷 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
GK Pegguy Arphexad | 🇫🇷 |
M Igor Bišćan | 🇭🇷 |
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 5/11
Homegrown: 2/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 5/16
Homegrown: 2/16
MATCHDAY SQUAD
SQUAD STATS
1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 6/11
Squad:
Home Nation 🏴 🏴 🏴 🇬🇧 : 8/16
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
“I was amazed Michael Owen wasn’t playing… he was our biggest fear and he never even started the match.”
Paul Merson.
*BBC Sport*
Saturday, 8 September, 2001
*Villa stun Liverpool*
Villa inflicted a second successive Premiership defeat on ten-man Liverpool after Steven Gerrard was sent off for a reckless challenge on George Boateng.
Darius Vassell scored late on to give the score a fairer reflection of Villa’s superiority after Liverpool had struggled to find their form.
And Liverpool’s England contingent were brought back down to earth following their victories against Germany and Albania.
Significantly, England’s biggest hero, Michael Owen, was a surprise exclusion from Liverpool’s starting line-up.
And it had a negative effect on Liverpool’s attacking potency.
Despite boasting two other England scorers, Houllier’s front line looked laboured and Villa took full advantage - and three points from the match. Heskey in particular was out-of-sorts, and perhaps not fully fit.
But Villa’s Dion Dublin looked sharp and was involved in two of his side’s goals. He scored Villa’s opener with a bullet header from Paul Merson’s cross in the first-half. And, on 55 minutes, he helped the ball on to Hendrie, who stabbed the ball home to restore Villa’s lead.
In between Gerrard had equalised with a header from Gary McAllister’s corner seconds after the restart. Liverpool had no doubt been on the end of some stern criticism from Houllier at half-time.
Villa’s midfield had bossed the match for the first 45 minutes, with Boateng impressively dictating proceedings. But poor finishing from Paul Merson prevented them underlining their advantage with more goals.
There was a spring about Villa’s game and they were quicker and harder into the tackle and Liverpool were unable to raise the pace of their own efforts.
Owen was introduced on 59 minutes to cheers from everyone in the ground and even the Villa fans chanted “England, England”.
However, Owen was unable to rescue Liverpool and five minutes from the time the Kop was silenced when Vassell compounded Liverpool’s misery with Villa’s third goal.
Liverpool’s new signing, goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, was given no time to settle into the Premiership. And the out-of-favour Sander Westerveld must have been relieved he was not the one picking the ball out of the net on three occasions.
Given Houllier’s response to Westerveld’s error against Bolton, there is almost certain to be a backlash from the Frenchman after this disappointing display. Not least against Gerrard, who has learned that three days can be an awful long time in football.