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Liverpool went top of the Premier League by three points, provisionally, as they thumped Cardiff City 4-1 at Anfield, thanks to a brace from Sadio Mane and goals from Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Salah gave the Reds an early lead in the tenth minute, as he profited from an error from Sol Bamba’s missed clearance and the ball ricocheting in the Liverpool box. Cardiff defended their box well for the rest of the first half, as Liverpool barely got out of second gear.
Mane scored early in the second half with a bullet of a left-footed strike, only for the Reds to be pegged back by Calum Paterson midway through the second half.
Jurgen Klopp's side ended the game strongly though, as Shaqiri opened his account for the club, and Mane got another for his 50th Premier League goal to seal the rout.
Here are some important observations from the game.
#5 Liverpool's Mo Salah concerns are eased
When the Reds went into the last international break after a 0-0 draw with Manchester City, concern was rife over the form of their Egyptian talisman, Mohamed Salah. But in the three games since the break, Salah has scored four and assisted two.
It was always going to take something miraculously herculean for Salah to match the heights that he reached last season, but his levels of performance before the break were becoming a slight concern.
Even in these three games, he has left the feeling that he has got much left in the tank, but the goal output is back, and he seems to be a lot more involved in the final third.
Much credit for that must also go to Klopp and his change in his usage of Salah. The Egyptian has been Liverpool's centre-forward in all the last three games, and that has helped him immensely.
Salah is a very good dribbler, but when he's played out wide, it has been easier for opponents to overload him with multiple men around him, which nullified his influence rather easily.
In this central role, Salah is able to drift to both sides of the pitch and is also able to use his pace a lot more intelligently. He's mixed his game up as well, coming short as often as he has tried to make the runoff the shoulder of the last defender.
All in all, though, a massive weight has been taken off the Egyptian's shoulders with his recent goals, and Liverpool fans will be hoping that he can kick on from here and go from strength to strength again.
#4 Cardiff's ultra-defensive tactics only delayed the inevitable
Even though they conceded as early as the tenth minute, there was barely any endeavour from Cardiff to trouble the Liverpool rearguard throughout the game. The approach Neil Warnock was exemplified by the fact that the Bluebirds had one touch inside the Liverpool penalty area - that was for their goal.
They had 15% possession in the first half, and attempted 77 passes with a 45% accuracy rate. That is as diabolical as it is comical.
But to Cardiff's credit, they did well in limiting Liverpool. Their full-backs got narrow and cut the space between themselves and the centre-backs. The wingers also worked manfully and played virtually as full-backs. With both Aron Gunnarsson and Victor Camarasa tucked in their own third of the field, they nullified space for Liverpool to thrive in.
But without any endeavour, they were never going to trouble Liverpool after the Reds had scored early in the game. Cardiff did come out and show endeavour after Mane opened his account and scored the Reds' second.
They did have an out-ball as well in the form of Calum Paterson, but they didn't use him well. The big Scot would've got a lot of joy if the long balls were pumped to him while he was isolated against Trent Alexander-Arnold or Alberto Moreno. Instead, most times, he was running into a brick wall in the form of Virgil van Dijk or Dejan Lovren.
Warnock did concede before the game that it was almost impossible for them to beat Liverpool at Anfield, but in the end, it really felt like Cardiff didn't even try to beat Liverpool.
#3 Liverpool's new signings are making a difference
It's taken a while, but Fabinho is finally starting games for Liverpool in midfield and is making a difference. He has been an immense presence for the Reds in both the games he's started this week and has offered something immensely different from what they're used to in the midfield.
As the defensive midfielder, the Brazilian didn't have much defensive work to do, per se. But there was so much more he offered to the Reds.
In past seasons, Liverpool have struggled against packed defences, when they haven't been able to use their pace to get in behind the defence. They have needed guile to break open stubborn opposition and they've not had it. Fabinho didn't provide much guile, but he provided passing through the lines from deep in midfield.
The criticism most often levelled against Jordan Henderson has been that he is too safe with his passing from the no.6 role. In these two games, Fabinho has shown exactly why that criticism has been levelled on him. His ability to dribble past a man, and make incisive passes have been telling.
Xherdan Shaqiri has been a difference-maker as well. The Reds went into a slumber at the start of the second half, and needed a wake-up call. Klopp provided them with that by replacing Lallana with Shaqiri in the 60th minute. The Swiss immediately brought in an urgency and directness, which meant Cardiff were penned further back.
Shaqiri also rounded off a bright cameo with his first Liverpool goal which he took brilliantly. He received the pass from Salah in the area, before a drop of the shoulder put two defenders on the floor, meaning he could easily slot the ball into the bottom corner.
#2 Liverpool's fringe players once again fail to impress
Having played the Champions League game against Red Star Belgrade in midfield, Klopp decided to ring the changes, bringing in Adam Lallana, Alberto Moreno and Dejan Lovren for Shaqiri, Andy Robertson and Joe Gomez.
None of them did anything major to enhance their respective cases for a regular starting berth, though. Lallana was underwhelming on the right-wing, but you do feel for him.
He's been a player whose best performances for Klopp have come from central midfield. This season, in all his starts, he's been playing on the wings from where his effectiveness reduces drastically. All the injuries have meant that he's lost whatever pace he had, and his decision-making has been painful to watch given the time he's taken on the ball.
Moreno could've done so much better today as well, with the space he was afforded to venture forward. Instead, he almost always took the conservative option when it might have been better for him to attack Cardiff and put balls into the box. When he did cross, he did brilliantly, laying it straight onto Lallana's head just before half-time. Unfortunately, the Englishman's header was cleared off the line.
Moreno and Lovren were both equally culpable for the Cardiff goal though. The Spaniard let Hoilett get away a little too easily on the flank. Once his cross deflected off Van Dijk, Lovren completely switched off allowing Paterson to run across him and slot past Alisson.
#1 Klopp's 4-2-3-1 pays dividends
Very rarely in his Liverpool stint has Jurgen Klopp veered away from his favourite 4-3-3 formation, but in the last two games, Klopp has switched things up and things have worked a treat for Liverpool.
They have started scoring goals again, albeit against opposition that they ought to be scoring multiple goals against. But, overall, the Reds do look a more significant threat now than they did in the initial part of the season.
There can be plenty of possible reasons for Klopp's switch though. Henderson's injury and Milner's uncertain fitness left him no choice but to start Fabinho, and the Brazilian is used to the 4-2-3-1 from his time at Monaco.
Also, it has allowed Liverpool a constant attacking threat through the middle. With Firmino playing as the striker, you knew he would drop deep and try to get involved in the build-up, leaving the centre-backs unoccupied. Now with Firmino in the no.10 role and Salah in front of him, Klopp is reaping the benefits of the Brazilian's prowess from deep, while also stretching defences with Salah's pace.
Also, against teams that have set up to defend against Liverpool, it has helped them immensely to have that extra body in attack instead of in midfield.
It will be interesting to see how long the 4-2-3-1 experiment goes on, though. Is the German confident enough to use the same system against high-flying Arsenal next weekend? That remains an intriguing question.
