Mohamed Salah has scored twice, as Liverpool comfortably beat old rivals Manchester United 4-0 at Anfield to move atop the Premier League - for 24 hours at least.
Liverpool moved to 76 points from 32 games, with title rivals Manchester City on 74 points from one game fewer, with Pep Guardiola's side hosting Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday.
United had a miserable night and are now without a win in their last eight league clashes with Liverpool, failing to score in five of their last six trips to Anfield.
United dropped below Arsenal on goal difference, falling to sixth place on 54 points, after playing two games more than the Gunners.
Tottenham Hotspur currently occupy fourth spot on 57 points, but even though United retain a chance of qualifying for the Champions League, nothing in their performance indicated they merited such a reward.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who was without Cristiano Ronaldo, mourning the death of his newborn son, opted to play five at the back, with Phil Jones drafted in.
The approach simply did not work and Rangnick abandoned it at halftime, but by then Liverpool were 2-0 up and in control.
Colombian Luis Diaz gave Liverpool a fifth-minute lead, tapping in from close range, after Sadio Mane set Mohamed Salah free down the right and the Egyptian delivered a pinpoint low cross for a simple finish.
United's problems got worse in the 10th minute, when Paul Pogba limped off injured, and with Rangnick's side struggling to get any foothold in the game, the home side unsurprisingly doubled their advantage.
Mane again provided the spark with a superb first-time pass finding Salah, who lost bewildered marker Diogo Dalot, cut in from the right and provided his trademark left-foot finish. The Senegalese creator turned finisher in the 68th minute, making it 3-0, after Andy Robertson broke down the left and then Diaz picked out Mane, whose first-time finish on the turn flew into the bottom corner.
Salah completed the rout in the 85th minute, as substitute Diogo Jota threaded a pass through to the Egyptian, who beat David De Gea with a deflected finish that came off the leg of the sliding Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
"They make our life easier in the midfield and in the back, they always try to give us the ball in a one-against-one situation, so it makes our life much easier," said Salah.
The Anfield crowd revelled in the humiliation of their North West rivals, while a section of the visiting fans chose to leave early.
Reuters
