As it happened: Aston Villa 7-2 Liverpool in the Premier League 

Dean Smith's side deservedly run out clear winners and it could have been more

Jurgen Klopp will be wondering what happened to his usually reliable defence as they got picked apart time and time again

FULL TIME! Aston Villa outstanding but Liverpool truly woeful and way out of character defensively

Villa move onto nine points and go into the international break with every available point from their opening three

Three minutes of stoppage time...

Clock winding down thankfully for the champions, but still time for Villa to almost grab another through substitute Traore. Last ditch tackle from James Milner saves further embarassment

Close! Watkins hits the bar!

Chance! Villa almost make it eight but Adrian punches clear to Nakamba who's shot goes straight back at the Spaniard

Dean Smith makes a double substitute, possibly not to change the game at this stage as Marvelous Nakamba replaces Matty Cash and Ahmed Elmohammady comes on for Douglas Luiz

GOAL! Grealish makes it, unbelievably, 7-2! Absolute shambles at the back

Chance! Watkins almost made it four for him on the night but Adrian saves with his legs

Remarkably Aston Villa lead 6-2 at Villa Park, much the better side who have put the Reds to the sword at almost every given opportunity. Three huge deflections on the goals and a major error for Adrian for the opener

Goal. Another deflected goal sees Villa take a 6-2 lead. Crazy! Jack Grealish with the goal

Jones comes on for Joe Gomez who in truth has been off his usual standard all night

GOAL! Salah doubles his and Liverpool's tally and makes it 5-2 with a smart finish

Curtis Jones being readied

Goal. Another huge deflection sees Villa go 5-1 in front. Terrible from Liverpool. Barkley scores on debut!

Cheap free-kicks awarded at the start of the half to frustrate Liverpool

Back Underway. 4-1

Changes for Liverpool - Takumi Minamino replaces Naby Keita

Villa brilliant first half and deservedly lead. 

Liverpool sloppy and passive at times. Must improve

HALF TIME

Remarkable half ends with the score at Aston Villa 4-1 Liverpool

Credit to the home side who have capitalised on some less than assured defending with clinical finishing. 

Amazingly Klopp's side not out of it but must improve across the pitch

Shades of Watford away for Liverpool who have been all over the place defensively. Perhaps missing Alisson and Mane more than expected

GOAL. Ollie Watkins hat-trick makes it 4-1

Yellow card for Virgil van Dijk who cynically brings down Ross Barkley on another charge

GOAL! Huge deflection of a McGinn strike following the corner. 3-1

Barkley once more breaks the offside line but Adrian saves with his feet at the near post. 2-1

Goal! Mo Salah fires Liverpool back into the match with a volley after more good work from Jota

Barkley again goes close as Villa counter again

Close! Jota almost lobs the keeper from 20 yards. Tipped over for a corner

Villa in dreamland and Liverpool shell shocked as they trail 2-0 at Villa Park. Perhaps should of had a penalty with the score at 1-0 when Salah was tripped by McGinn

Goal. Double their lead through Watkins once again. Reds look shocked

Firmino again. This time the Brazilian makes his own space before his shot is saved at the near post

Almost! Liverpool almost capitalise on a goalkeeping error themselves as Villa scramble back

Firmino sees his shot saved after nice build up around the area

Jota and Robertson link up down the left but the cross is cleared for a corner

Better from Liverpool as they create two half chances for Keita and Robertson

Ross Barkley misses a glorious chance to make it 2-0 as he shoots wide 

GOAL! Mistake from Adrian gifts Villa the ball in the area and Ollie Watkins to make it 1-0

Strong start from the home side as they give Liverpool no time to settle on the ball and dictate play

We are underway! 

Aston Villa in their home kit and Liverpool in their new black strip

Naby Keita gets us going

Aston Villa will be buoyed by the absence of Alisson and Mane

Big night for Liverpool without two of their main men and with new signing Thiago also absent - huge boost if they can pick up all three points

Aston Villa will be looking to upset the odds tonight and go into the break on an extreme high

Liverpool meanwhile are looking to potentially go back to the top of the league on 12 points from a possible 12

Smith: ''This is the biggest test you can get at the moment, but it's one we are looking forward to.''

''We've added quality and this will be a good marker for us.''

Dean Smith: ''The training he's done so far has been pleasing, it's tough on Conor.''

''I felt Ross's physicality would benefit us today.''

Jurgen Klopp: ''We have to do further assessment, but he is injured. Now we hope it will go really quickly.''

''Its an international break, I'm pretty sure after that he will not be ready, we have to see week by week.''

Teams are out warming up as we tick past the 30 minutes until kick off mark

Diogo Jota adds more of the same in the absence of Mane as the newly signed Portuguese winger presses high and looks to get in behind his full-back time and time again

Barkley's inclusion will add even more direct running to the Villa midfield and may leave the hosts vulnerable to the hard working Liverpool press - the home side will have to be accurate in possession

Dean Smith's side made life very difficult for the visiting Reds last term and will be hoping for more of the same as they look to take points off the champions for the first time since their return to the top flight

Ross Barkley makes his Villa debut after joining on loan from Chelsea this week. 

Diogo Jota makes his first Liverpool start and Jordan Henderson returns to the matchday squad

Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Targett, McGinn, Luiz, Barkley, Trezeguet, Grealish, Watkins. Subs: Steer, Traore, Hourihane, Nakamba, Davis, Elmohammady, El Ghazi

Liverpool XI: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Keita, Salah, Firmino, Jota. Subs: Kelleher, Milner, Henderson, Jones, Minamino, Williams

Expecting a changed side from Monday's win over Arsenal for the Reds, mainly due to absentees.

Aston Villa could stick with the side that lead them to a 3-0 victory against Fulham

Two hours until team news and three hours until kick off as Aston Villa and Liverpool both go in search of continued 100% Premier League records before the international break

Liverpool will miss joint top scorer Sadio Mane this evening, however Mohamed Salah also has three goals from the opening three games and will be out to add to his tally

John McGinn has two assists from the opening two matches for Villa whilst his midfield colleagues Conor Hourihane and captain Jack Grealish each have a goal apiece

In better news for Liverpool, last years PFA Young Player of the Season, Trent Alexander-Arnold, has been passed fit and is expected to be named in the starting XI. Team news around 18:15 BST

Alisson Becker confirmed as absent by numerous sources for the match with an injury picked up in training. Adrian will deputise for the Brazilian stopper

Liverpool will be without Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara due to positive Covid-19 tests. Alisson is a late fitness doubt with concussion but captain Jordan Henderson could return to the side

Aston Villa are expected to name Ross Barkley as part of their matchday squad for the first time following his loan arrival from Chelsea. The hosts will remain without the services of Tom Heaton and Bjorn Engels

This fixture last year saw the Premier League champions elect come from a goal behind with just minutes remaining thanks to late Andy Robertson and Sadio Mane strikes

Both teams come into this evenings clash with perfect Premier League records. Jurgen Klopp's side have won all three of their matches whilst Dean Smith's Villa' are two from two after narrowly avoiding the drop last season

The fixture is available to watch live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League from 19:00 BST

Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage as Aston Villa face Liverpool in the Premier League. Stay tuned for all the pre-match analysis, previews, team news and live updates throughout - all here on VAVEL.com