Cody Gakpo netted twice and Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai once each as Premier League leaders Liverpool comfortably beat the Blues 4-1 at Anfield, Jacob Greaves pulling back a late header for Town. The Reds dominated throughout and went ahead through the excellent Szoboszlai on 11, Salah made it two in the 35th minute and Gakpo 3-0 a minute before the break, then added his second and his side’s fourth on 66, with Greaves nodding his first for Town from a Julio Enciso corner in the final minute.

Boss Kieran McKenna handed Jaden Philogene his full Blues debut as he made five changes to the team which lost 6-0 at home to Manchester City on Sunday.

Philogene, who signed from Aston Villa earlier in the month and featured as a sub against City, came in for Jack Clarke, who was left out of the 20-man squad, but was fit, alongside Omari Hutchinson behind central striker Liam Delap.

In central midfield, skipper Sam Morsy was joined by Kalvin Phillips with Jens Cajuste rested and out of the squad due to his recent heavy workload with the club continuing to manage his knee.

Wes Burns replaced Ben Johnson wide on the right with Leif Davis on the left, while Axel Tuanzebe made his first start since suffering a hamstring injury at Nottingham Forest at the end of November on the right of the defence with Ben Godfrey among the subs.

Dara O’Shea continued in the middle with Jacob Greaves coming in for Cameron Burgess, who was left out of the 20.

Christian Walton was on goal with Enciso on the bench having joined on loan from Brighton.

Liverpool also made five changes from the team which beat Lille in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister, Andy Robertson, Gakpo and Trent Alexander-Arnold all returned to the XI with Curtis Jones missing out having picked up a knock.

Two minutes in, with the home side unsurprisingly seeing most of the ball, Gakpo cut in from the left but shot well over. On nine, Robertson’s effort from the edge of the box was blocked.

The Reds, watched by a new Anfield record crowd of 60,420, had dominated without seriously threatening but in the 12th minute they went in front. Konate played a pass through to Szoboszlai, who had got behind Phillips, then cut into a wide gap between O’Shea and Tuanzebe before hitting a low shot from the edge of the box into the left corner of Walton’s net.

Town caused the home defence problems for the first time, Hutchinson’s ball in behind for Burns on the right winning a corner, taken by Davis, which Alisson was forced claw away from under his bar, not entirely comfortably. Referee Michael Salisbury gave a rather generous free-kick.

In the 24th minute, Burns suffered an injury after appearing to catch his studs in the turf and twist his knee as he challenged Gakpo. After treatment on the field, the Wales international eventually left the field on a stretcher to applause from both sets of fans, Johnson replacing him.

Once it had restarted, the game continued in a similar vein, the Reds dominating with the Blues preventing any more serious chances, although Greaves had been force to block Mo Salah’s shot after he had cut in past Davis.

And in the 35th minute, Salah doubled the home side’s lead. Gakpo floated a deep cross to the far post and the Egypt international stepped out away from Davis, who got drawn inside, took a touch before smashing past Walton from a tight angle. The home fans delightedly celebrated Salah’s 100th Premier League goal at Anfield and his 23rd of the season.

Liverpool continued to control the game and look for openings with the Blues occasionally breaking forward, Philogene making a burst forward on the left without finding Delap.

A minute before the scheduled end of the half, the Reds added their third. Szoboszlai’s low shot across Walton from the right of the box was saved by the Town keeper but not held and Gakpo followed up from close range.

In seven minutes of injury time, Trent Alexander-Arnold sent over a very dangerous cross from the left which flew just beyond Luis Diaz at the far post.

Moments before the whistle, Szoboszlai curled an effort from the right of the box across the face and only just beyond the post.

Liverpool had dominated from start to finish, having 72 per cent of possession, and biding their time and creating the opportunities from which they scored.

Town, however, will be disappointed with their defending with the defence and the midfield holding a lengthy discussion after the first.

Going forward, the Blues had failed to cause any concern aside from Davis’s in-swinging corner. Hutchinson, Delap and Philogene’s occasional breaks had been ended by Konate or Virgil van Dijk with little fanfare.

Ahead of the second half, the Blues switched Davis, who had been given a tough afternoon by Salah, for Conor Townsend. Davis was previously the only Town player to have played every minute of the Premier League season, while Townsend’s only league action was a single minute off the bench at Brentford.

The second half began as the first had ended, Salah moving the ball on to Szoboszlai on the right of the box in the 47th minute and the Hungarian international flashing a cross past everyone in the six-yard area.

Seven minutes after the restart, Delap got beyond Konate in the box but never looked in control and went to ground as the pair challenge, referee Salisbury waving away Town protests.

Hutchinson struck Town’s first shot of the game in the 60th minute, the former Chelsea man’s effort following a half-cleared corner causing Alisson little difficulty, the Brazilian saving comfortably down to his right.

The Blues’ first effort on goal woke the home fans up, the Anfield faithful having been unusually quiet with their team already having had the game won, with the Town fans responding in kind.

But Liverpool had continued to dominate and look for holes in the Blues’ defence. And in the 66th minute, they added their fourth. Alexander-Arnold crossed from the right and Gakpo got behind the Town backline and headed into the roof of the net. VAR checked for offside but upheld the decision.

Having gone four goals in front, the Reds swapped Gakpo, Gravenberch and Szboszlai, who had been Liverpool’s most dangerous player for Harvey Elliott, Darwin Nunez and Wataru Endo.

Elliott was quickly into the action, screwing a volley wide having been found by a cross at the far post on the right.

On 74, after a corner had been cleared, Alexander-Arnold unleashed a powerful strike from more than 30 yards which just arced away from the angle of post and bar.

Delap, who had had a frustrating afternoon, was booked in the 75th minute for what the referee indicated was the latest in a succession of fouls.

Three minutes later, Salah cut the ball back from the byline on the right, the ball reaching Alexander-Arnold, who hit a first-time right-foot effort which hit the top of the bar.

Town made a triple change in the 89th minute with Enciso handed his debut and Nathan Broadhead and George Hirst also sent on with Hutchinson, Philogene and Delap making way. The Reds switched Mac Allister for Jayden Danns.

Enciso’s first action for Town was clattering into Endo having beaten the Japanese international to a bouncing ball. Endo required treatment and Enciso was booked by referee Salisbury.

With five minutes left on the clock, the Blues went close to pulling a goal back. Enciso sent Broadhead away on the left, the Welshman moved it on to Townsend, who sent over a superb cross, which Hirst headed goalwards but too close to Alisson, who was able to save sharply down to his right. Liverpool subsequently swapped Diaz for Federico Chiesa.

In the final scheduled minute, prior to five additional minutes, the Blues pulled a goal back. Enciso whipped over a corner from the left and Greaves out-battled Elliott to power home his first goal for the club, giving the Town support, who had had a tough week, something to cheer about, which they continued to do for the remaining minutes.

Town won a couple of corners in the closing moments from Broadhead and Enciso crosses before referee Salisbury ended the afternoon.

The Blues’ support once again showed their appreciation of their players and staff following another heavy defeat.

The gulf between the teams was evident throughout with Liverpool in total control and never having to really force the game, knowing that the chances to make their superiority tell would come. And when they did, they finished most of their better opportunities clinically.

Town battled away gamely, although manager McKenna will be unhappy with the defending for a number of the goals, but once the first goal went in in the 11th minute where the points would go was never in doubt with Liverpool now unbeaten in 18 in the Premier League.

Hirst was unlucky not to score with his header after Broadhead and Townsend had again made bright contributions, while Enciso was the pick of the two debutants - albeit at a time when the game was already dead and buried and with Liverpool having made changes - having picked up his first Town assist and showing great enthusiasm to get involved throughout, as Endo discovered.

There’s little disgrace in losing at Anfield and there was no repeat either of the 5-0 which saw the Blues relegated here in 2002 or of the 6-0 loss at home to Manchester City last week.

Next up, a more important fixture from a survival point of view, Southampton at Portman Road on Saturday, the Saints having lost 3-1 at home to Newcastle United.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk (c), Robertson, Gravenberch (Nunez 69), Mac Allister (Danns 80), Szoboszlai (Endo 69), Salah, Gakpo (Elliott 69), Diaz (Chiesa
86). Unused: Kelleher, Tsimikas, Quansah, Bradley.

Town: Walton, Tuanzebe, O’Shea, Greaves, Davis (Townsend 46), Morsy (c), Phillips, Burns (Johnson 29), Hutchinson (Enciso 79), Philogene (Broadhead 79), Delap (Hirst 79). Unused: Muric, Godfrey, Taylor, Luongo. Referee: Michael Salisbury (Preston). VAR: Paul Tierney. Att: 60,420.

Photo: Reuters

Rimsy added 23:03 - Jan 25 I know it's hard for the team, but I feel we are showing teams too much restect. We look defeated from the moment we walk on the pitch, with 9 or 10 men behind the ball. I can take the losses but just give it a go. We have nothing to lose now.
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Rimsy added 23:05 - Jan 25 'respect'
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armchaircritic59 added 00:23 - Jan 26 I don't like to criticise too much ( very easy thing to do ), we've come a long way rapidly, and simply don't have the financial clout to go out and buy a load of ready made Premier League players, instead largely taking the route of young players that should have plenty of improvement in them. Whether they improve quick enough to keep us up, we'll find out before too long. As for today, being honest I'd say for long periods it wasn't much more than a training excercise for Liverpool apart from about the last 15 minutes, when both sides had replaced half their outfield players , and the game became more open. The subs made an impact, no doubt about it, maybe time to freshen things up now, and give others a chance to show what they can do. In my opinion (and it is an opinion, not a fact! ), we are just sitting too deep and are too passive, I think Delap must have spent about 75% of his time on the pitch jogging from side to side a little outside our own penalty area. He must have been asked to do it, but there's absolutely no get out ball, and even if there was, he'd need support, which wouldn't have been there either. There was a lack of getting in the Liverpool players faces, not many tackles, ( same as last weekend ). Give players like those time to play the ball around at their will and they'll destroy you, they might anyway, but at least you can make them work for it! It's a hell of a learning curve, but we are still in there with a chance. If the supporters can be as magnificent as the last two matches, they might just help us get over the line. Maybe a bit more positive play will help, without going gung ho.

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joyousblue added 07:52 - Jan 26 Every one is suddenly mckenna , with this my team would be this or that , your not on the training ground , your not with the players , with niggles or confidence issues , the only team i care for is mckennas , suddenly muric is back after being slated by so many , our season starts now , we will beat southampton , we are better than most teams in the bottom half , we have the quality to stay up , our first season would always be tough , its called building snd improving , and we have the backing of rich owners , but its not going to happen overnight , stay up and build for as long as it takes , i was there yesterday confidence is an issue , davis was actually sick , last season he was outstanding , but this year , so many of you are attacking him , support not slate for goodness sake we are up against players worth our whole outlay , our division is the bottom half

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Dissboyitfc added 08:15 - Jan 26 Why does anyone expect anything different? Most people certainly outside the itfc bubble felt we were nailed on for relegation. Our season is going part much as I expected, I predicted we would finish 17th. Up until now we have used players that served us so well in the lower leagues, players who some said weren’t good enough for those divisions. Norwich fans said at the start of the season they would get top 2 or playoffs the bare minimum, their season if you think about it is going to end in failure they will achieve neither so that’s a poor season, if we stay up ands it’s more likely than them achieving either of the above. Keep the faith!

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Linkboy13 added 09:17 - Jan 26 We are buying championship players what do you expect. The only way we can get quality at the club is through the loan system. Big changes have to be made in our scouting network if we are to compete with the likes of Brentford, Brighton, Bournemouth etc.
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blues1 added 09:20 - Jan 26 RobsinWark. Still talking bs then? Davis delivery is poor? Must be why he has had so many assists,to his name tgd past few seasons. Defensively he's not great, which is why, until he sorts thst our, he won't play for england. But to criticise him for his delivery is ridiculous.
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blues1 added 09:25 - Jan 26 RobsonWark. And there you go again. Muric is 2nd in thecpl for saves made. Without him we'd have a lot less points than we have. But like many, you concentrate on the few errors he's made thst have cost us. But you ignore the 4 goals in the last 3 games that Walton was responsible for. 1 against Brighton, 2 v city, and the 4th yesterday. But, you keep scapegoating Muric. Fact is, we have 2 good keepers, who both have errors in them.

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Cakeman added 09:51 - Jan 26 The management will say the Southampton game is just another game but important because it’s the next One. In reality this One is beyond huge. Win it and the squad and supporters will be up for fight ahead, lose it and it will take an incredible effort to lift spirits of both squad and supporters. Southampton will come here giving it a real go. A draw is no use to them. That should make for an open and entertaining game. I think we have to close the season out with the squad we have. I cannot see who we could now get in to make a difference in such a short space of time with not many games left.

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dirtydingusmagee added 10:02 - Jan 26 When we were promoted we became favs to go downit happens every year in prem.Ivesaid from day one one place above the line will do me but wont be easy.That still stands We are cosmic distance away from likes of Liverpool and Man City and a long way short of the majority of teams in prem.We have t hope to.meet thosr teamswhen they have a bad day This season our league consists of bottom 4 / 5 clubs and as long as we get better results than them we will.be ok Not particulaly hopeful but we are still.In it. We can all play the blame game but it wont change anything. Km K is now going to be tested to get us over the line and. I still think he has it in him to succèed. IMO those fans who are not happy and turning against players manager and other fans are those who were predicting.top half ,even top 6 and europe finish before we had kicked a ball in prem, those who said we would smash it. Realoty can be harsh sometimes .especially dreamers.We just need to try and get over the line.Great if we do , if we dont we go again and enjoy winning our way up again .What will be will be . COYB

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Carberry added 10:15 - Jan 26 Yes, it was Liverpool, but what we didn't do was to play with any fight and passion. Surely that's the bare minimum before we start talking about tactics or selections. As has been said it was like a training session for Liverpool and the commentator I listened to said it was easier than that. I don't care what the difference in the value of the teams is, you can show some aggression. I think McKenna is a very cerebral manager, dedicated to analysis, tactics and selection choices, what he doesn't appear to have on yesterday's performance is a motivating ability to get the players to overcome their inferiority complexes and put some passion into their game. He often says we are approaching the next game with humility (which is a fine quality in life) but maybe not suitable for 90 minutes of Premier League football. Great managers have the ability to make players better by believing in themselves more and showing it on the pitch when the going gets tough - haven't seen any of that in the last two games.

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Leejames99 added 11:53 - Jan 26 Why do Match Of The Day hate us? They showed game, raved about Liverpool and moved on! I think we are underestimating Southampton next week, we aren't going to roll them over if we don't get selection right, they looked decent against Newcastle yesterday and as someone said they will be right up for beating us. IMO we need to start playing tge players we signed and be brave in decisions. Look at Bpurnemouth yesterday, how quick the break, Ipswich have the speed and skill to do that. It's never popular but Morsy is just not up to this level imo. I think Ensico will play in the roaming role and be the link between midfield and forwards with his quality. Broadhead deserves to play I think but I don't know where we can't play everyone but he looks on form. Not popular but I think we need Muric back, aside West Ham and Newcastle our games so we're so close with him in goal and scorelines low , but he is getting slated for mistakes which many keepers make, look at Chelsea keeper yesterday, and those who say defenders are more comfortable with him have you considered that he might of been bemused as the back line changes every week! Plus O'Shea played with him last year. I just think Mckenna needs to find and stick to a starting 11 now with injuries allowing and our new signings should be in team, what's the point having a 40 million midfielder on bench and a £500,00 one on pitch? We can still catch Everton and others and get draws and we have a good run in but I think we need consistency now, 5 changes is too many imo. Be exciting end to season I think we stay up and home games crucial but Saturdays game and team selection will be a good marker, but as I've said all season, if we go down we are better equipped than most relegated teams are to cone back up. COYB

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blueboy1981 added 12:49 - Jan 26 Let’s face it, our efforts in the last two games against Liverpool and Man’ City have been nothing short of Dismal for Prem’ v Prem’ Teams. Many Div’ 2 League or even Non League Teams couldn’t have done much worse - the whole Team resembled Rabbits in Headlights for most part of both games. Don’t try and convince me that our Owners, or Sponsors with be satisfied, and unconcerned - if YOU believe that you’ll believe anything. Massive shortfall from everyone - other than amazing Fan following. Not allowed to say it - but IT HAS TO CHANGE ! - as you will all see.

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blueboy1981 added 13:24 - Jan 26 Cadiar - Speak for yourself as an IDIOT !!
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Carberry added 13:50 - Jan 26 Cadiar, I think that post should be a contender for considering your continued presence on here by the people who run this forum.
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bluesince76 added 14:04 - Jan 26 We got to the prem by playing with no fear of the opposition we now are playing with fear of the opposition this mentality will not keep us up draws are no good from here on we need to attack teams now with Well score more than you attitude and if we go down we'll come back stronger.
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blueboy1981 added 15:09 - Jan 26 HOW can Cadiar get away with that last incriminating, disgusting, juvenile, and antagonistic Post ??? Admin:- - I Ask You ??
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 16:17 - Jan 26 Tottenham are just bloody useless at the moment. Lost at home to Leicester. Great! I bet they have a new manager in place by the time we play them. Just our luck! I have warned earlier that Leicester are not yet dead and buried.
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Cadiar added 16:34 - Jan 26 Blueboy wasn't it you calling for KM's sacking? Are you going to deny it again? It there in your history of comments, I stand by every comment about you.
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blueboy1981 added 16:47 - Jan 26 Cadiar - WRONG ! - as normal.
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Cloddyseedbed added 17:37 - Jan 26 Johnson not good enough at all. Midfield not good enough, morsy too slow, shame we can't send Phillips back as he has given us nothing for what we are paying for him. Seems to be more interested in his hair appearance. Philogene needs to be prepared to work harder, maybe that's why he couldn't get game time at previous club. Mini league of 4 clubs at the bottom, 3 go down.

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Carberry added 17:53 - Jan 26 Is there a moderator of this sight. Let us know, will you?
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blueboy1981 added 18:00 - Jan 26 Carberry …. sadly, and unfortunately, but obviously not !!
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atty added 18:22 - Jan 26 I fear the worst.Three wins in 23 games. We are fortunate that there are others tyat are no better. A mini league of four strugglers and we have to win it. It’s now or never. The team needs to play at the top of their g@me individually and collectively,, as do KMcK and his staff, and the fans.
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algarvefan added 00:48 - Jan 27 If we are not turning on the players or the manager on here we are turning on each other, please try and grow up some of you. You are 'entitled' to an opinion but should respect others, even if you disagree.
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