Liverpool ended a four-match winless run by beating Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday.
A double from fit-again Daniel Sturridge saw the Reds over the line as Rudy Gestede netted a brace of his own for the visiting Villans.
James Milner kicked things off in just the second minute when firing home from the edge of the area with his left foot before Sturridge added a second prior to the hour-mark with a lovely volley from a clever give-and-go with Milner.
In the 66th minute, summer signing Gestede poked home Alan Hutton's low cross from the right but the Villa joy was short-lived as Sturridge helped himself to his second when combining brilliantly with Philippe Coutinho to finish the Brazilian's backheel beyond Brad Guzan with his right foot.
Gestede pulled another one back for Tim Sherwood's men with a thumping header from Jordan Amavi's flying cross in the 71st minute but the damage had already been done as the pressure eased on Brendan Rodgers.
The victory saw the Reds climb to eighth on the table as Villa fell into the bottom three with a third straight defeat.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Liverpool: 3 (James Milner 2', Daniel Sturridge 59'/67')
Aston Villa: 2 (Rudy Gestede 66'/71')
Anfield, Liverpool - 44,228
TALKING POINTS
- Can Sturridge be the man to fire Liverpool into the top five?
- How do Villa get themselves out of this quandary that has them with just four points from seven matches?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Liverpool meet FC Sion at Anfield in the Europa League on Thursday before tackling Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Sunday as Villa prepare for the visit of Stoke City next weekend.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Ima Count my blessings...
Result was a wavedown, 3 points in the bag. #redordead#dstudgehttps://t.co/vPqQvxLs4k
— Daniel Sturridge (@D_Sturridge) September 26, 2015Great team performance today. Fans were incredible. #LFC#YNWApic.twitter.com/URCRLhhP3c
— Danny Ings (@IngsDanny) September 26, 2015THE BOSS: Sherwood on bad start, Gestede and keeping belief. His post-Liverpool views: http://t.co/4op9jKNcrq#AVFCpic.twitter.com/arMPk5L5XM
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 26, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Liverpoolboss Rodgers on his side's apparently poor start:
"In all competitions we have lost less games than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. We are five points off the top and still with a lot of progress to make."
Villa's Sherwood on the defeat despite scoring on two occasions:
"If you score two at Anfield you expect to take something from the game but we didn't do that.
"That is a major disappointment but it is something I expected."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
4 - Daniel Sturridge has scored in each of his last four Premier League games against Aston Villa. Pest.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 20151:06 - James Milner's goal for Liverpool v Aston Villa is the quickest scored in the 2015-16 Premier League so far (1:06). Arrowed.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 201521 - Rudy Gestede has scored 21 headed goals in league competition since Aug 2013; 6 more than any other player in the top four tiers. Leap.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 26, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
LIVERPOOL
Goals - Christian Benteke, Daniel Sturridge 2
Assists - Philippe Coutinho 2
Clean sheets - Simon Mignolet 3
Yellow cards - Joe Gomez, James Milner 3
Red cards - Philippe Coutinho 1
ASTON VILLA
Goals - Rudy Gestede 3
Assists - Jordan Amavi 2
Clean sheets - Brad Guzan 1
Yellow cards - Ciaran Clark 3
