PAUL TISDALE: Aston Villa's blueprint was clear in their shock rout of Liverpool... Dean Smith's side pressed high up the field and were a textbook example of counter-attacking

‘Where did that result come from!?’ Whenever I’m faced with a performance conundrum, I dig into the stats. Often the clues are right in front of you.

There are thousands of stats available, so the art is knowing where to look for the pertinent ones.

Analysing Liverpool’s shock 7-2 defeat by Villa last week, I compared that with the first half of the 2019-20 season, when Liverpool were at their best.

VILLA ON THE COUNTER

There was one stat from Villa Park that stood out: the number of counter-attacks conceded.