<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">As reality checks go, the humiliation Liverpool handed out to Manchester United at a joyous and almost disbelieving Anfield was as brutal as it gets.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The statistics speak for themselves.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Liverpool's 7-0 win was a monument to the return of all the qualities that have driven success under manager Jurgen Klopp. Those same statistics piled up like rubble at the feet of a Manchester United side that simply crumbled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The biggest beating in the history of this famous fixture; the 7-0 scoreline equalling the heaviest defeat inflicted on United; Liverpool scoring six goals in a truly remarkable 45 minutes in front of The Kop.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Joy for Liverpool. Pain for Manchester United.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">United lost by the same margin to Blackburn Rovers in 1926, to Aston Villa in 1930 and to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1931.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">None of those will be mentioned in the same breath as this truly remarkable game because of who inflicted it and where.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is why this win was celebrated so wildly by Liverpool's baying fans. This is why Manchester United will be so badly wounded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This will be a day that will be remembered forever by everyone who witnessed it at Anfield - even those United supporters who will try to blank it from their memory but will find it impossible - and far beyond.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Liverpool have been scratching for the old certainties this season. The intensity. The passion. The ruthlessness. The controlled fury.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately for United, it all came flooding back in a game that will go down in history. It certainly put the Red Devils' renaissance, shown by the EFL Cup win against Newcastle United at Wembley, on temporary hold.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mohamed Salah's two goals made him Liverpool's record Premier League scorer with 129, overtaking Robbie Fowler despite playing 61 fewer games.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Salah's record shows the seismic impact he has had from pretty much the first day he arrived at Liverpool from Roma in June 2017 - and yet here he also took his place in what Klopp is building for the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Egyptian netted two goals, almost expected given the fact he is also Liverpool's record scorer against Manchester United with 12.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But of great significance was the impact of two newcomers brought in as Klopp renews the attack that has served him so superbly - Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This was the sight of an Anfield evolution as the pair gave a tantalising glimpse of the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino formed one of the most potent tridents in world football in Klopp's first great team but the winds of change have been blowing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mane made his exit to Bayern Munich in the summer while Firmino announced on Friday that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Indeed, it was a sign of Liverpool's perfect scriptwriting on Sunday that the Brazilian emerged as a substitute to a rapturous reception and provided the perfect finale to this landmark game with the goal that made in 7-0 in front of The Kop in the closing moments.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alongside those goals from Liverpool's old guard came two each from Gakpo and Nunez that hinted at the potency and promise within the next incarnation of Klopp's forward line.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gakpo was a target for United manager Erik ten Hag before Liverpool stepped in to snatch him away from PSV Eindhoven in January - and here you could see what the attraction was.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He provided a smooth finish from Andrew Robertson's perfect pass to open up what had been, as remarkable as it sounds, a tight game for 43 minutes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gakpo scored Liverpool's third with a delicate flourish after brilliant work by Salah, before he was joined on the scoresheet by Nunez, who is now getting the goals his industry has deserved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nunez diverted Harvey Elliott's driven cross past United keeper David de Gea to put Liverpool 2-0 up then scored with another superb header from Jordan Henderson's ball in for the fifth.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Gakpo and Nunez are still early works in progress but they possess goals, variety and flexibility. Throw in the enduring, world-class Salah and this is another threatening Liverpool strike force in the making.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the wider context, Klopp's side are now an ominous presence to the likes of Tottenham and Newcastle United in the fight for a top-four place.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Liverpool are only three points behind Spurs, who lost at Wolves on Saturday, while Newcastle look to be fading after a fine first few months of the season.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Klopp flagged up just how big this week was in shaping those ambitions and it has brought a deserved home win against Wolves before United were completely overwhelmed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said: "It was the push we wanted. It puts us in the right direction. Everyone has to know we are still around.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It wasn't the case for a while but this was a proper show of what we can be and what we have to be from now on."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was after a 4-0 loss at Liverpool in April that then Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick announced: "They are six years ahead of us."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">United's steps to recovery this season suggested the gap had been closed to an extent - but when Liverpool get it right, as they did here, it still resembles a chasm. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>