Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn believes Unai Emery 'spooked' Liverpool with his tactics during Saturday’s draw at Anfield.
Roberto Firmino scored an 89th-minute equaliser against Villa to keep alive Liverpool's faint hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League. The Brazilian marked his final appearance in front of the Kop by stabbing home Mohamed Salah’s cross on his 361st outing for the Reds.
However, despite Liverpool coming into the game on the back of seven straight wins, Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled for large parts of the contest, with Ollie Watkins missing a penalty before Jacob Ramsey's sweet guided volley gave the visitors a first-half lead.
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And McGinn believes the reason the Reds struggled so much was because they were 'spooked' by Emery’s tactics during the first-half.
He said: "I’m sure we will have plenty of meetings, plenty of detail, but I think if you ask any player who has worked with him this year he has been an absolute pleasure.
"He’s made myself better; he’s made other players better. The details you are going into, you’re going into the games with a clear plan.
"He can adapt as well; it’s not just a system that is predictable. He can change, and we had a couple of changes here which spooked Liverpool in the first half."
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