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Liverpool can breathe a little easier after their 2-0 win against Aston Villa stopped their dismal losing run. It was on Saturday night when the reigning Premier League champions put an end to their four-match run of defeats in front of a raucous Anfield crowd. Mohamed Salah opened the scoring on the brink of half-time via an error from Emiliano Martinez to net his 250th goal for the club . The strike saw the Egyptian draw level with Wayne Rooney as the two players who've racked up the most Premier League goal involvements for a single club. Ryan Gravenberch's deflected goal in the second half doubled the Reds' lead and they went on to clinch their first clean sheet since their 1-0 win against Burnley in September . The victory precedes a mammoth week for Arne Slot 's side, who welcome Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League before taking on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium five days later. Mirror Football takes a look at the latest news coming out of Anfield, including Virgil van Dijk taking aim at critics, Trent Alexander-Arnold opening up about his Liverpool return, and Slot again being told he made a huge mistake in the transfer window. The Liverpool skipper was back on form in Saturday's win alongside his team-mates and the victory allowed the 34-year-old to get some thoughts off his chest, namely the criticism the champions have been subjected to this season. While the victory ended the dismal run of four straight league losses, Van Dijk insisted the levels of judgement his side have had to take is "ridiculous" when asked just how difficult his role as the leader has been during their tough run of defeats. Speaking to TNT Sports, he said: "What I have noticed over the last couple of weeks especially is that there is a lot of noise that you have no control over and that we have to deal with as a team. "Some of those takes are absolutely ridiculous. But you have to deal with that. It's outside noise that can reach certain players, the group. It's about sticking together. "We're not going out there on the pitch to lose games, we're not going out there to be disappointed after games or leave fans disappointed going home, we want to work our socks off and win games. But there's no guarantee. "You play in the Premier League , the highest level, in the biggest league in the world , and it's difficult to stay calm but you have to do if you want to get back to where we want to be. That's up there. But that's something for later in the season to look at. Now it's time to keep working, never get too high, never get too low. "We live in a world now, for footballers at least, because that's the only thing I can speak about, where everyone can have their opinion on so many platforms and everyone knows it better. We have to try to stay away from that and focus on the hard work we've been doing. "Last season we didn't hear much negative stuff. Everything was sunshine and rainbows everywhere. Now it sounded like, by the outside world, we're going to be in the relegation battle, so that's how it works in the world." The former Liverpool defender is set to make his return to Anfield just five months after leaving for Real Madrid . His start in Spain hasn't been smooth sailing as prior to a hamstring injury that he only returned from late last month, the England star was in and out of the team. However, with the injury of Dani Carjaval, Alexander-Arnold is expected to feature for his current side in their Champions League clash against the Premier League champions on Tuesday. In his first interview since departing his boyhood club, the 27-year-old spoke to Prime Video Sport about the love he'll always possess for Liverpool. "Whatever way I’m received is the decision of the fans," he said. "I’ll always love the club, I’ll always be a fan of the club. I’ll always be thankful for the opportunities and the things we achieved together… they’ll live with me forever. No matter what, my feeling won’t change towards Liverpool. I’ve got memories there that will last me a lifetime, and no matter how I'm received, that won’t change." He admitted that upon learning Madrid would travel to Anfield, he was contacted by several of his former Liverpool team-mates with their reunion to come to fruition. "After the draw, Robbo, Mo and Ibou (Konate) all messaged me, we were just laughing," he revealed. “When the draw was announced, everyone knew it was going to happen, it was destined for that fixture to come. It will be a very difficult game, the reception and atmosphere will contribute to that. Although they (Liverpool) haven’t had the results of late, they’re still a top footballing team, and nobody here thinks it’s going to be an easy game." Alexander-Arnold has long been a threat from set-pieces and scored several free-kicks for Liverpool but promised if he was to bag against his old club, he would not celebrate. "If I was to score, then I wouldn’t celebrate. No," he insisted. Liverpool may have forked out hundreds of millions on new attacking players but losing Luis Diaz in the summer has proven to be a bigger miss than initially expected. While the winger enjoyed the best season of his Reds career last season with 17 goals across all competitions, both Diaz and Liverpool mutually agreed to his exit amid a £65million bid from Bayern Munich. The Colombian has set the Bundesliga alight with five goals and four assists in his first nine games and ex-Premier League midfielder Andy Reid criticised Arne Slot's decision to greenlight Diaz's departure. "Liverpool have spent a hell of a lot of money and if Arne Slot thought his squad should be bigger then maybe they should’ve paid less transfer fees and maybe brought in more," Reid told BBC Radio 5 Live . "It’s alright after the event saying they don’t have a big enough squad, you have to cut your cloth accordingly, if you want to build a club that’s capable of building on all fronts like a club, like Liverpool should. "For me, one of the really big losses in this and, you see how well he’s doing at Bayern Munich , is Luis Diaz. What they’d do to have him and his energy at the moment." With Cody Gakpo seemingly Liverpool's undisputed left winger, teenage starlet Rio Ngumoha has deputised for the Dutchman several times this season. Prime reporter Alex Aljoe interviewed Trent Alexander-Arnold ahead of Liverpool v Real Madrid, streaming exclusively on Prime Video at no additional cost to members. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. 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