Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill may be starting to regret his decision to sideline his teams UEFA Cup chances this year to safeguard a Champions League challenge next after seeing Liverpool demolish Villa 5-0 at Anfield.

 

The one-way show included a Steven Gerrard hat-trick and, coming off the back of two amazing results against Real Madrid and Manchester United, proved to the West Midlands side that class is not something that is earned overnight. However, slipping to fifth and out of the Champions League spots may be a wakeup call to anyone in danger of becoming complacent at Villa Park.

"We were well beaten by an exceptional Liverpool side," said O‘Neill, "But we did contribute to our own downfall. At 1-0 down, we gave away an unbelievably bad goal. It was a shocking mistake. We played poorly. We gave away some lousy goals and we have to get back on track.”

One bright piece of news was the selection of Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey in Fabio Capello’s 24-man squad to face Slovakia and Ukraine. Clearly, the form of these two in particular will have a major bearing in the ultimate success or failure of Villa’s campaign.