Aston Villa 2-2 Liverpool: Darwin Nunez misses a sitter as Reds drop points in title race | OneFootball

The striker twice missed good chances as the Reds dropped two points

Mohamed Salah continued his impressive season with a goal and an assist as he earned Liverpool a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa.

Villa showed they can be a match for any of the top sides on their day, but their inconsistency means they look unlikely to qualify for the Champions League for a second season running.

Liverpool came out of the blocks early and had chances to lead inside the opening 10 minutes as Virgil van Dijk slashed over from Alexander-Arnold's brilliant pass and then Diogo Jota's shot was blocked by Tyrone Mings.

Villa came to life and Marcus Rashford, making his first Premier League start since December 1, thought he had set up an opener in the 17th minute when he played a one-two with Marco Asensio and Andy Robertson turned the cross into his own net from inside the six-yard box, but Rashford was offside.

Salah was off target in the 26th minute when he got a header all wrong, but he was on the scoresheet three minutes later as Liverpool went in front.

It came from some suicidal Villa defending as right-back Andres Garcia passed straight to Jota who closed in on goal and gave Salah a tap-in from six yards.

The lead was short-lived, though, as the hosts levelled in the 38th minute.

Liverpool failed to deal with a Rashford free-kick and when Dominik Szoboszlai got his clearance all wrong it fell to Tielemans who slammed home from close range.

The home fans were still celebrating by the time Jota missed a golden chance to restore Liverpool's lead straight from kick-off when he skewed horribly wide after Robertson played him in.

Instead, it was Villa who took the lead in first-half stoppage time.

They worked the ball out to the left where Watkins teed up Lucas Digne and then raced into the area to get on the end of the Frenchman's cross, glancing a header into the bottom corner.

Villa had a decent chance to extend their lead soon after the restart as Rashford was sent clear down the left and he got to the ball first before Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker, but his shot from the touchline was cleared by Ibrahima Konate.

Liverpool began to up the ante and came within inches of levelling when Jota's wicked delivery clipped the top of the crossbar on the hour.

But a minute later it was 2-2 as Villa were done on the break, with Salah getting some good fortune in beating Digne before squaring for Alexander-Arnold, whose shot deflected off Mings and wrongfooted Emiliano Martinez.

Only Nunez knows how Liverpool did not go back in front in the 69th minute as he missed a sitter three minutes after coming off the bench.

Szoboszlai raced through on goal and unselfishly squared for the Uruguayan at the far post, but he incredibly skied his shot with the net gaping.

Villa looked the likeliest to win it in the final 10 minutes as Jacob Ramsey had a goal disallowed for offside before Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen shot off target in time added on.