Throughout this contest, the six central midfielders focused on breaking up play, rather than constructing passing sequences of their own. Aston Villa's Yacouba Sylla was the best example of this defensive slant – the Frenchman concentrated on pressing Liverpool's Lucas Leiva, who misplaced an unusually high number of passes, preventing Liverpool from controlling the game in the first half. But this meant Paul Lambert's most advanced midfielder was primarily a destroyer rather than a creator, so Villa had to find their three attackers without him.

Indeed, both sides were more dangerous when they bypassed the midfield zone with quick attacks. Their precise tactics were contrasting – Liverpool's front three spent the first half moving short, allowing their defenders to knock the ball past the midfielders. Philippe Coutinho and Stewart Downing played narrow, while Luis Suárez dropped deep before spinning in behind.

Villa did not share that reluctance to play directly – their goal came from a simple long ball towards Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke, bypassing a 40-yard zone lacking any home players. That was an effective way to get around being a "broken" side, although many of their attacks involved pushing the full-backs into advanced positions (often taking advantage of Downing and Coutinho's narrowness) before crossing. Their first two clear chances came from this approach – first left-back Joe Bennett delivered a good ball to Benteke, then right-back Matthew Lowton played an excellent low, curled cross for Agbonlahor.

Liverpool's equaliser was a slick passing move – but also an extremely direct attack. Steven Gerrard and Coutinho both played quick forward balls to take Liverpool the length of the pitch in just two passes.

Yacouba Sylla's defensive role from an advanced position meant both sides bypassed the midfield zone in possession. Illustration: Graphic

From then, Liverpool's entire midfield replicated what Sylla had initially done very effectively – pushing up, getting tight and forcing the home side's midfielders into sloppy passes. Suárez remains the Premier League's best 'defensive' forward because of his sheer energy, while Jordan Henderson's decisive contributions for Liverpool have come because of his stamina and work rate, rather than his creativity. Those two led the pressing, and with Gerrard and Lucas backing them up and squeezing Villa inside their own half, the tempo increased, the pressure mounted, and mistakes from a nervous Villa side were inevitable.

An emphasis upon short passing football is the key feature of Brendan Rodgers's strategy, but this victory – where Liverpool attacked at speed and pressured the opposition efficiently – was a better demonstration of his side's strengths this season.