LIVERPOOL’S long unbeaten home record came shuddering to a halt last night as their stuttering start to the season continued.

And if the testing summer hadn’t already made it apparent, the Anfield faithful may have no option but to lower their expectations for the foreseeable future.

A mere 10 days into the new term, Liverpool have already lost as many Premier League games as they did the whole of the previous campaign.

They also stand six points adrift of pace-setters Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

So much for the near-perfect season Benitez believes his team must produce if they are to win the title.

Villa raced into a two-goal lead by half-time thanks to an unfortunate Lucas own goal and a contentious Curtis Davies header.

Liverpool earned a reputation as the Premier League’s most resilient team last season by picking up 22 points after going behind in games.

But despite Fernando Torres pulling a goal back, Ashley Young’s 75th-minute penalty ensured Liverpool ’s 31-game unbeaten home sequence was ended.

This was the first time Liverpool had been beaten by Villa since losing here by the same scoreline in 2001.

And it was one of the grimmest Anfield nights of Benitez’s reign.

Torres was frustrated by a lack of protection by referee Martin Atkinson from some rough Villa treatment and, despite having been warned last week by Benitez about his temperament, was booked for dissent late on.

And with Steven Gerrard suffering a rare off-night - summed up by the manner in which he conceded Villa’s penalty - Liverpool had to look elsewhere for creativity and forward threat.

It was not forthcoming, Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun both affected by the general malaise and Lucas’s confidence taking a serious knock with his own goal, the Brazilian eventually substituted midway through the second half.

The worry persists that if Torres and Gerrard aren’t firing on all cylinders, neither are Liverpool .

Last summer’s Gareth Barry transfer saga means there’s no love lost between Benitez and O’Neill, and the Irishman will surely savour this victory.

Liverpool have posted many significant landmarks during Benitez’s reign, and tonight came another - they actually made Villa appear a good team.

Since being touted as dark horses for the title as recently as eight months ago, O’Neill’s side have slumped dramatically, winning only two of their final 13 league games last season.

The new campaign has not been much better, the Midlanders losing at home to Wigan Athletic on the opening day and then beaten at Rapid Vienna in their Europa League qualifier last Thursday.

Liverpool had thrashed Villa 5-0 during the title run-in last season - and netted 28 in their last eight Anfield outings - so all the portents pointed to a comfortable home win.