Liverpool recorded their biggest win at Old Trafford with a 5-0 victory over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s woeful side. Their aggregate against United took them to 9-0 for the season, the most goals Liverpool have scored against their bitter rivals in a single season since 1895-96. Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick was also the first for a Liverpool player at United since 1936. And Fabinho wanted more. Changing his professional hat to the fans’ view on that historic day brought out the frustration that Jurgen Klopp’s side seemed to declare after the fifth goal that came in the 50th minute. For United, reduced to 10 men when Paul Pogba was sent off at the same time, it proved their only blessing. “I remember the last away game against United, I was watching at home and sometimes shouting at the TV,” says the Brazil international, who is set to make his 100th league start for Liverpool on Monday night. “To be honest, I wanted the team to attack more to try to score more goals because we had one more player at the time, but it was the moment when the team tried to control the game more and stabilize the ball. “As a fan, I wanted the team to score more because it was a great opportunity to make a historic score at Old Trafford, but of course 5-0 wasn’t bad. I was more on the fans’ side than a player’s side that day, but then, being on the pitch so often, you understand both sides. I think the fans were happy with 5-0.” The disaster came three months into last season and sent United into a full-blown crisis from which Solskjaer has never recovered. The last meeting of the old north-west foes comes three games into the new campaign but, given Erik ten Hag’s terrible start and internal problems at Old Trafford, it is not too much to suggest that Liverpool could once again put United in turmoil with another. emphatic victory. Fabinho insists that is not the priority. Mohamed Salah completes his hat-trick to put Liverpool 5-0 ahead of Manchester United at Old Trafford. Photo: Martin Rickett/PA “Playing a derby is always a big motivation. The first half last season was almost perfect because the team played an almost perfect game. We scored four goals in the first half and the way we played, the way we pressed, the quality we played on the ball was really incredible. “I don’t care if a win pushes them a little further into the crisis, I just want to beat them and get three points. It’s always a big game and during the week the media talks a lot about this game. Playing there is never easy and we know that if we win the fans will be happy to see our opponents beat. We also need three points. It will be our first three points of the race, so there are a lot of things to motivate us.” Liverpool haven’t exactly flown out of the blocks themselves. Back-to-back draws, at Fulham and at home to Crystal Palace, gave Manchester City an early advantage, while Darwin Nunez’s blunder against Patrick Vieira’s side left Klopp without his star of the summer for the next three games. Fabinho said: “It’s not the start we wanted of course – two games, two draws – but it’s only the start of the season. We are really calm about it. We know we can win the games to make sure the gap doesn’t get too big, from the other clubs, not just Manchester City. We are calm because we know the quality of the team and there are still 36 games left.” The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. He insists Liverpool’s slow start is not a hangover from missing out on the Premier League title and losing the Champions League final at the end of last season. “I’m not really thinking about that right now. After the Champions League final it was hard not to think about the game and the defeat. After the game we knew we had to do the parade with the fans and most of the players didn’t want to do it because they weren’t in the right mood, but the parade helped me a lot personally. At the parade we forgot everything, we were right in the moment with the fans. Sometimes we have to have this kind of experience to remind ourselves what this club means to the fans. “Of course we want to be successful, but it’s not just about winning. The fans were proud of the team because the season was really good. After two or three weeks I started not thinking about the Champions League final. I was hurt by this final because I thought we played much better than Real Madrid, but in a final you have to win, not play better than the other team. Now I don’t think about it anymore.”
