Graeme Souness laughed last and laughed loudest after his prediction for Liverpool to "put a marker down" against Manchester United came true in a big way.
Jurgen Klopp's side went in 1-0 up at the break, but ran riot in the second half to end up as 7-0 winners. The result puts them well and truly in the picture for a top four finish after European rivals Newcastle and Tottenham were both beaten on Saturday.
Souness, who played more than 350 times for Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s, was supremely confident of three points despite the gap in the table between the two teams before the match. His fellow pundits were less convinced, but the former Scotland midfielder saw his belief justified by the Reds as three different players bagged braces.
"I think where Liverpool are right now, this game comes at the perfect time," Souness said in Sky Sports' build-up to the game. "What an opportunity to put a marker down, to shut all the doubting Thomases up and damage United.
"I fully expect them to turn up today. And it’s a long time, Kelly [Cates, Sky Sports presenter], since I’ve been as confident about a Liverpool win against United as I am today. I just feel they’re going to turn up today.
"I think they’ll be bang up for it today. This is a difficult place for United to come," he added, prompting laughter from former United pair Roy Keane and Gary Neville - laughter which the pair would be reminded of come full time.
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The result was a fourth win in five Premier League games for Liverpool, who haven't conceded a single goal during the run. Klopp's team also impressed going forward against reigning European champions Real Madrid in the Champions League, only for individual errors to condemn them to a 5-2 home defeat.
"They have to sit down sometime next week and say why did we wait this long to turn up like this?" Souness said after the win, insisting Liverpool can't allow themselves to get carried away despite the manner of the win. "They did in the first half against Real Madrid but then they fell apart, so that was a really solid performance today.
"When Liverpool have been at their best over the last five or six years the one word that comes to mind is intensity. The one thing that comes to mind is their intensity, they don’t leave you alone if you’re playing against them, and that’s been missing this season. As a midfield player playing against them it would not have been easy because they’re on you."
