Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick and Paul Pogba was sent off as Liverpool embarrassed Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Four of the Reds’ five goals were scored in a clinical first-half display as a mixture of poor defending and fine finishing humbled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s insipid side.
Naby Keita rolled in the first from Salah’s through-ball to put Liverpool ahead after just five minutes before Diogo Jota slid in a second soon after.
Salah then got his first, smashing the ball into the roof of the net as he scored for the 10th straight game before the Egypt forward made it 4-0 on the stroke of half time with a close-range finish.
There were boos at half time from the home fans but it got worse soon after the restart when Salah scored his third after the in-form forward was brilliantly found by Jordan Henderson.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside before Manchester United’s misery was complete when Pogba, on as a half-time substitute, was sent off for a two-footed tackle on Keita after being on the pitch for just 15 minutes.
Liverpool back to their ruthless best
Liverpool were always going to come back stronger from the suffering of last season when injuries and the worst run of home form in the club’s history saw them drawn into a dogfight for a place in the Champions League.
They rallied superbly to finish third and carried that good form into this new campaign, with an ominous composure about Klopp’s side from the first day.
With Virgil van Dijk back in defence and Salah playing at a level that suggests he is the world’s best player, they are a ruthless machine and how United felt that power.
Bruno Fernandes actually missed a very good chance to put United ahead before Keita opened the scoring but once Liverpool got ahead, Solskjaer’s side were unable to cope.
With Salah as the main weapon, they cut through United at will, reducing both their players and the crowd to nervous agitation every time they went forward.
Salah is in the form of his life and this United defence was an open invitation to a team with Liverpool’s range of attacking options.
In the last eight days alone, Liverpool have scored 13 goals in three games on their travels, taking in the 5-0 win at Watford and the 3-2 victory against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
The only downside to their day was the injury to Keita, injured in a two-footed challenge by Pogba, which is a cruel blow to the midfielder given he has been showing the best form of his stop-start Liverpool career.