Liverpool continued their impressive scoring rate to sweep aside Southampton 4-0 at Anfield.

Diogo Jota opened the scoring inside 90 seconds as he turned home Andy Robertson’s cut-back and the Reds barely stopped attacking from that point.

Sadio Mane headed in another only to see an offside flag deny him, before Jota tapped in a close-range second after a fine passing move. Before the break it was three, Thiago thundering in his second goal in a few days via a deflection.

After the restart it remained the home team who took their chances, Virgil van Dijk volleying in off a corner while Adam Armstrong missed two from close range at the other end for Saints.

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl made the call to change from his usual 4-2-2-2 to a back three system, with fairly disastrous results.

The Reds have habitually wiped the floor with teams going with such systems, moreso when it isn’t their primary defensive set-up, and the same was on show right from kick-off with a goal inside two minutes and chances following at a rapid rate.

That gamble from the Saints boss lasted only until the break when a double sub saw them revert to four in defence, but it failed to stem the tide of Liverpool’s attacks.

Jota scored twice. Mane had a header ruled out. Mohamed Salah is already the league’s top scorer and came into the match with a goal per game rate for the season.

Salah’s 11 has him clear in the Golden Boot standings, but his nearest in-form challengers also wear red, with Jota and Mane joining Jamie Vardy on seven in joint-second.

And all of this without Roberto Firmino who, while he is being overlooked now as he has been sidelined through injury for several weeks, himself has a goal return of better than one every 90 minutes this season.

The Reds have been irrepressible in the final third this season, now making it 17 matches in succession where they score twice or more – it has been almost 100 years since an English team managed that.