Dominant Liverpool drub Man Utd to move top

Liverpool moved two points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a dominant 4-0 win over Manchester United at Anfield.

The trio of Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane scored the first three goals, two of them in the first 22 minutes, in an emphatic performance to which United simply had no answer.

And Salah had the final say, set up by Diogo Jota this time, with his second of the night to cap it off as Liverpool added a four-goal win to their five-goal beating of United in October.

Ralf Rangnick's cautious five-man defence seemed designed to keep things tighter this time but United were overwhelmed from the outset, missing the chance to press their claims for fourth.

The sad news that Cristiano Ronaldo would be absent following the loss of his newborn son was marked with a well-observed round of applause after seven minutes.

That touching moment aside, Jurgen Klopp's side did their job ruthlessly, dismantling United in a high-tempo game - conducted expertly by Thiago - that was too much for the visitors.

Manchester City can restore their advantage with victory over Brighton on Wednesday but Liverpool's momentum continues. In this form, talk of the quadruple is not going away.

An expectant Anfield did not have long to wait for the breakthrough, Sadio Mane putting Salah away down the right and his cross finding Diaz who converted from close range.

Paul Pogba trudged off injured soon after and the second came before the midpoint of the first half - Mane the provider with a sumptuous pass for Salah to side-foot home.

The atmosphere was raucous by that stage, only the offside flag denying Diaz another, only the half-time whistle providing United some respite.

Phil Jones, making only his second start of the