A brave attempt by Aston Villa to close the gap on the top four teams in the Premier League was defeated by Liverpool.
Before Stefan Bajcetic's first goal for his senior team made it 3-1, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk scored in the first half.
Prior to Leicester's visit on Friday, they moved up to sixth, five points behind the Champions League spots.
Despite Ollie Watkins' goal, they prevailed over Villa, a mid-table team that put up a fight but missed chances and lacked quality when it mattered most.
Jurgen Klopp had seen second-put Newcastle move 11 focuses clear with a walk around Leicester so realized triumph was basic not simply to stay in contact with the Jaybirds however reel in the main four.
It seemed as though it could be a troublesome night when Emi Buendia teed up Watkins inside the initial 60 seconds however he coming up short on ability to beat Alisson Becker.
It was a miss that summed up Villa's attacking threat: promising but lacking quality, and they quickly regretted it.
Andy Robertson's cross was dummied by Darwin Nunez, resulting in a collision between Tyrone Mings and Robin Olsen, who required treatment.
The visitors took the lead when play resumed after five minutes, despite Villa's dismay at the interruption.
Only 40 yards from the goal, Robertson's corner was cleared to Trent Alexander-Arnold, who bent a brilliant pass to Robertson, who nipped in ahead of John McGinn and rolled a perfect ball for Salah, who couldn't miss.
Watkins escaped the defense once more, but Alisson prevented him from scoring before the offside flag was correctly, albeit late, raised.
Leon Bailey's miss from 12 yards made Villa Park's usual frustration early, and Liverpool's backline hardly appeared secure. More shock followed when Watkins' manageable header was simple for Alisson.
The difference came from Liverpool's brutality, and after 21 minutes, Joel Matip headed in Alexander-Arnold's free kick, but he was only slightly offside.
Nunez twice underlined the point by heading over and then grabbing Ezri Konsa's slice and firing straight at Olsen, exploiting the space at both ends.
Due to the generous nature of the game, Villa could have been down 3-0 or ahead. Salah was the next player to try, but he missed after 30 minutes.
Nunez's development was causing Estate difficult issues and Olsen - who scarcely looked persuading delegating for World Cup victor Emi Martinez - turned his low exertion wide.
However, the hosts were unable to clear the corner, so Salah set up Van Dijk to rifle in with a slight deflection off Konsa.
The Reds had a perfect starting position for the second half with a cushion of two goals, but Nunez missed an opportunity to add a third before the break by steering at Olsen from close range.
It was one that appeared to be suddenly unstable when McGinn missed a stooping header and Watkins drilled into the corner, but McGinn was offside.
But when Salah broke quickly from a Villa free kick after 50 minutes, Liverpool should have won the game, but Olsen stopped him.
As Villa remained a threat, the Reds needed to calm the game down, but they failed, and Watkins scored after 59 minutes by nodding in a cross from Douglas Luiz.
With Villa Park reenergized, the frantic game picked up a notch, but Nunez, who was erratic, was the next player to miss. With 15 minutes left, he was put through by Salah and dragged hopelessly wide of the far post.
With nine minutes left, Bajcetic showed impressive composure to round Olsen and fire a shot through Mings' legs after a cross from Nunez. This finally put an end to Liverpool's hopes of beating Villa.
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