Festive frivolities turned to Christmas confusion as Amazon Prime Video's broadcast of the Premier League fixture between Aston Villa and Liverpool cut out.
Roughly 10 minutes into the second half, viewers were bewildered for nearly 60 seconds to see a generic screen with the words: "Thank you for watching the event live on Prime Video." The interruption came at a hectic time in the match, when Liverpool were 2-0 up thanks to first-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Fortunately, fans did not miss Ollie Watkins' 59th-minute header to pull a goal back for the hosts at Villa Park, which had been coming as Liverpool let their intensity slide. Nonetheless, supporters were furious with the unexpected blackout from a broadcaster which only shows a handful of games per season, with the majority aired by Sky Sports and BT Sport.
"Best way to ruin live football in TV? Put it on @PrimeVideo," one fan wrote. "Delayed and stuttered feed (not my Fibre broadband btw), random 'thank you for watching' message. Come on @amazon, it's 2022 not 2002."
Another supporter added: "Oh come on!?!? @PrimeVideo if you're going to be serious at streaming the footie make it reliable! Every. Single. Time! Problems..."
A third fan wrote: "@PrimeVideo if I'm paying for a service off you each month can I at least expect that when your showing the football it doesn't keep buffering and then going to a standby screen, and before you ask no it's not my internet connection."
One Amazon Prime Video user had already been enraged by losing a Christmas present in the post, with the cutting-out of Villa versus Liverpool only infuriating them further. They said: "Not only content with losing a Christmas parcel, Amazon Prime now drops out during the Liverpool match."
Were you impacted by the Amazon Prime Video cutting out mid-game? Have your say in the comments!
One social media took a more light-hearted view of things and claimed that Amazon Prime Video switching off was indicative of Liverpool's poor performance in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Watkins' goal came as no surprise given the number of chance the hosts had in the first half and the way they began the second.
Jurgen Klopp responded by making changes in midfield, with Thiago and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain making way for Harvey Elliott and Naby Keita. The Reds continued to pose a threat on the counter-attack, too, and Darwin Nunez squandered one of his many opportunities of the evening after being played through by Salah with roughly quarter of an hour remaining in the Midlands.
Further changes followed in the closing stages, with Joe Gomez and Stefan Bajcetic coming on for England duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson. 18-year-old Bajcetic struck in the closing stages to restore Liverpool's two-goal lead.
