Lucas Leiva could not prevent Liverpool from succumbing to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa in the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Christian Benteke opened the scoring with a low drive that evaded Pepe Reina at the near post from outside of the box and they quickly doubled their lead as Andreas Weimann tucked away Benteke’s backheeled pass.
After the break, the Reds looked to dominate the game in search of a comeback but they were undone on the counterattack as Benteke scored his second of the evening with a cool finish after shrugging off Joe Allen.
A Steven Gerrard header secured a late consolation for Liverpool but the manner of the defeat will have left manager Brendan Rodgers furious as they suffer a setback in their chase for the top four.
Lucas was deployed in his usual defensive midfield position behind Gerrard and Allen in a three man midfield but the game passed the Brazilian by as he struggled to keep up with the pace of play.
