Danny Murphy made it a miserable introduction to Aston Villa for record signing Juan Pablo Angel with a two-goal blast as Liverpool strolled to their fourth win in the last five Premiership games.

Angel had flown in from Argentina to complete his £9.5million move from River Plate and was paraded to fans during the half-time interval.

But manager John Gregory's belief that Villa need strengthening in all areas, and not just in attack, was again underlined in the most emphatic fashion.

It will need more than the arrival of Angel to halt their present slump of just one win, and seven points, in the last nine Premiership matches.

Villa's chronic lack of depth to their squad was highlighted with rookie defender J Lloyd Samuel pressed into service as a midfielder, alongside another centre-back in Gareth Barry.

Gregory does not have the numbers to be able to accommodate the loss of George Boateng, Lee Hendrie and Ian Taylor through either injury or suspension.

With an FA Cup replay against Newcastle on Wednesday and then successive league matches with Manchester United, Leeds and Ipswich to follow, this is a make-or-break period for the home side.

They hardly managed a shot in anger after a bright opening with only Paul Merson looking capable of prising open the Reds defence.

Liverpool in all honesty won this match in a canter and it was literally a case of men against boys in the centre of the park.

And their victory was achieved without Robbie Fowler, who was left out of the 16 altogether, and Michael Owen who watched all but the last 10 minutes from the bench.

The likes of Steven Gerrard, tipped by Merson to lead England to World Cup glory, and Murphy bossed the middle of the pitch while Emile Heskey covered every blade of grass.

New signing Jari Litmanen could not have had a more comfortable introduction to the Premiership after his move from Barcelona and he showed flashes of his class before being substituted in the 70th minute.

Villa opened positively and a first-time volley from David Ginola had Sander Westerveld back-pedalling behind his line to hold onto his dipping effort.

Then a fine ball over the Liverpool defence from Ginola picked out Merson but he sent his shot well wide.

Liverpool started to turn the screw with Litmanen using the ball intelligently and the Finland captain was only just too high with a shot from the edge of the area.

Murphy then found Gerrard in space inside the area and he saw his shot smothered by Villa's former Liverpool keeper David James.

But it was only a temporary reprieve and in the 24th minute a mistake by fit again Villa defender Alpay gifted Murphy the first goal.

He made a complete mess of an attempted clearance and the ball broke to Murphy whose first effort thundered against a post.

The rebound broke to the one-time Crewe player and he gave James no chance with another thumping shot.

Liverpool then assumed complete command and nine minutes later Murphy turned goal provider.

A fine pass from Litmanen was flicked on instantly by Murphy to the on-rushing Gerrard and again James was left clasping air as his shot thundered into the roof of the net.

Villa were powerless to stem the tide and James had to scramble across his line to keep out a low shot from Heskey.

Gregory decided on a half-time shake-up, removing Alpay and Ginola and reverting to a 4-4-2 formation.

But nine minutes into the second half the game was effectively over as Murphy scored his second goal.

Heskey made a run into the right channel and held the ball up before finding Murphy whose low shot took a slight deflection and flew past the exposed James.

The home side were powerless to stop the string of Liverpool attacks and James finger-tipped an effort around the post from Dietmar Hamann.

After that the match died a quiet death, and Angel must be wondering what he has let himself in for on the evidence of this showing.

Teams:

Aston Villa: James, Wright, Southgate, Alpay (Vassell 47), Samuel (Hitzlsperger 84), Staunton, Ginola (McGrath 45), Stone, Barry, Dublin, Merson.

Subs Not Used: Standing, Enckelman.

Booked: Alpay, Southgate.

Liverpool: Westerveld, Henchoz, Babbel, Carragher, Hyypia, Gerrard (McAllister 88), Murphy, Hamann, Litmanen (Biscan 71), Smicer, Heskey (Owen 81).

Subs Not Used: Barmby, Nielsen.

Goals: Murphy 24, Gerrard 32, Murphy 53.

Att: 41,366

Ref: G Barber (Tring).