Here is your Liverpool morning digest for Wednesday, April 20.
What Paul Scholes did when Thiago left the pitch sums up Liverpool masterclass
The banner on the Kop before kick-off served as a simple, effective message to the rest of English football, those who can only look on with envy right now: Imagine being us.
Imagine being Liverpool. Imagine being in mid-April with it all still to play for. Imagine going to the very edge of footballing immortality. Just imagine. These fans don't need to.
But imagining is about all any other set of supporters can do right now as Liverpool returned to Premier League duty by going top of it here with another shellacking of Manchester United.
LFC RATINGS: Thiago Alcantara perfect and five others superb against Manchester United
YOUR SHOUT: Rate the Liverpool players after 4-0 win over Manchester United at Anfield
This 4-0 win was the most convincing against United since, well, the very last one in October when they battered their rivals out of sight at Old Trafford. It's now nine without reply for those keeping count. The Red Devils had never conceded more than seven to the same team in a season before Tuesday night.
Not since Chelsea in 2007 has a team gone this far into a campaign still in contention of an unprecedented quadruple and Jurgen Klopp and his players will surpass the Londoners' end date of May 1 when they take part in a Champions League semi-final in Villarreal on the 3rd of next month. But rather than be burdened by the weight of history that is clearly against them, the Reds have been energised and invigorated by it.
For Liverpool, there can be no sweeter success than this because it was a victory that inflicted damage to both sides in Manchester. After ending Pep Guardiola's treble dreams at Wembley, they leapfrogged their title rivals by overwhelming United in another remarkably lopsided affair between these two giants of the sport.
A key to this latest success was the willingness to ignore the Manchester United badge on the shirts and simply play the confidence-shot, mismash of non-committal players wearing them instead. That is something that hasn't always been the case when these two have met in recent years, but with their visitors enduring a desperate campaign, Klopp's men simply had to make this one count.
So while this skirmish will always remain the biggest in English football, that this win has now taken Liverpool 22 points clear of their great rival only highlights the disparity between them at present. A floundering United have rarely been as patently second best to the Reds in the Premier League era and on the evidence of this season, it will be some time before they can offer genuine threat to either of their most loathed enemies at the summit of the English game.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
Sir Alex Ferguson goes viral again
Sir Alex Ferguson’s face said it all as he watched his beloved Manchester United get ripped apart by Liverpool in a scintillating 45 minutes of football at Anfield.
The legendary former United manager’s face was captured by Sky Sports after Mohamed Salah finished off a wonderful move to put Liverpool 2-0 up in the 22nd minute.
Ferguson, for the second time this season against Jurgen Klopp’s all-conquering side, looked aghast at what was unfolding in front of his eyes.
Back in October the 80-year-old was captured looking desperately unhappy during Liverpool’s thumping 5-0 victory in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford.
And he must have got that sinking feeling again as Salah - following a heartfelt show of support to Cristiano Ronaldo and his family - added to Luis Diaz’s fifth-minute opener.
Compare Ferguson to his former rival Sir Kenny Dalglish. The Liverpool great was also caught on camera by Sky Sports. But his face was a picture of a delight as his cherished Reds moved a step closer to taking over at the top of the Premier League.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.
