Match reportLiverpool suffer 4-2 defeat away at Aston Villa
Morgan Rogers' opener for Villa on the stroke of half-time was equalised by a Virgil van Dijk header early in the second period.
But finishes from Ollie Watkins in minutes 57 and 73 established a two-goal cushion for the hosts.
The scoring was completed in the closing stages with a John McGinn curler and Van Dijk consolation.
Team
Joe Gomez for Jeremie Frimpong was the only change to the side deployed last time out, while Mohamed Salah and Florian Wirtz returned to start on the bench.
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Gomez (Chiesa, 66), Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo (Salah, 75), Gravenberch (Wirtz, 66), Ngumoha.
Unused subs: Woodman, Robertson, Nyoni, McConnell, Ndiaye, W. Wright.
First half
Villa, with a Europa League final on the horizon, enjoyed a strong start that saw Watkins threaten twice within the opening 10 minutes.
He forced Giorgi Mamardashvili into a low save and then turned inside Van Dijk before firing off target from a promising position.
Liverpool gained a foothold midway through the period, with Rio Ngumoha in particular looking threatening.
A Van Dijk knockdown forced last-ditch interventions from the Villa back line to prevent Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo from directing it towards goal.
Ngumoha then curled over at the end of a solo run before the Reds had a goal ruled out, when the offside Gakpo converted the rebound of a Ryan Gravenberch shot that Emiliano Martinez had fumbled.
A Dominik Szoboszlai long-ranger was pushed behind by Martinez, leading to successive corners from the second of which Alexis Mac Allister nodded just over.
But the hosts would end the deadlock three minutes prior to the break from a short-corner routine.
The ball made its way back to Lucas Digne and the taker slipped a pass into the area to find the unmarked Rogers, who angled his effort beyond Mamardashvili.
Second half
Liverpool drew level seven minutes after the interval.
Szoboszlai floated a free-kick from the right to the back post, where Van Dijk found himself free and able to plant a header into the far corner.
Ngumoha struck the post a little over a minute before Watkins restored Villa's lead.
Rogers pounced on an unfortunate slip from Szoboszlai and nudged the ball forward, allowing Watkins to sweep first-time past Mamardashvili.
The Reds goalkeeper prevented Watkins from making it 3-1 soon after with a pair of saves from close range.
Milos Kerkez stopped Watkins having a free run at goal with an important challenge to halt a Villa counter-attack and then Emiliano Buendia curled onto the crossbar, but they would eventually find their third goal in the aftermath of a corner.
Mamardashvili had saved well from Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres, though Watkins was on hand to tap in the rebound.
Salah was introduced for the final quarter of an hour for what was his last appearance on the road for the club.
McGinn added a fourth for Villa one minute before the 90 was up, curling into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Van Dijk headed in his second of the night from Szoboszlai's delivery in stoppage time but the deficit was too much for Liverpool to overcome.