Aston Villa hit back at Graeme Souness’ ‘long grass’ jibe following 7-2 win over Liverpool

Aston Villa responded brilliantly on social media to Graeme Souness’ claim that they only beat Liverpool because of ‘long grass’.

The Premier League champions were humbled 7-2 at Villa Park as Ollie Watkins’ first-half hat-trick led Dean Smith’s team to an extraordinary victory.

Liverpool were without a number of their top stars, with captain Jordan Henderson injured, both Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara absent with coronavirus.

Alisson suffered a shoulder injury in training, which meant Adrian took his place in goal… and it was his blunder that led to Watkins starting the rout after only four minutes.

However, Souness bizarrely claimed the Reds’ dreadful performance was due to the length of the grass, and claimed Villa Park staff deliberately allowed the turf to grow in order to slow the champions down.

“All the top teams want short grass, a fast pitch. That doesn’t look like a fast pitch to me,” he told Sky Sports.

Villa hit back in a social media post on Tuesday titled: “Long grass. Amazing goals, skills & assists.”

The video on the tweet was nearly 10 minutes of highlights from the incredible game.

Souness’ comments also led to a backlash from Eddie Mills, a member of the match-day groundstaff at Villa Park.

Responding to the ‘clueless’ Liverpool legend, he wrote on Twitter: “Graeme Souness’ uneducated comments about the Villa pitch are insulting to all the massively hardworking groundsman up and down the country who put their hearts and souls into their proud work! #clueless.”