Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes was proven right with his prediction for when his old club hosted bitter rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford.
Even though Jurgen Klopp’s side netted five at Watford in the Premier League the previous weekend, few could have envisaged they’d be quite so dominant against their old foes as English football’s two most-successful clubs sides did battle.
A toe-curling display from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team saw them concede to goals from Naby Keita, Diogo Jota and a Mohamed Salah brace.
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It was the first time in history that Liverpool had led 4-0 at half-time against United and the first time in 70 years that the Red Devils had trailed to anyone by that scoreline at the interval.
However, Scholes, who made 718 appearances for United, scoring 155 goals, had made an eerily-accurate prediction that they would trail so heavily at the break.
The 46-year-old told BT Sport after United's 3-2 comeback win over Atalanta in midweek: “Jurgen Klopp will be rubbing his hands together.
“That first half, United had two players midfielders playing on their own and if they do that against Liverpool they’ll be four down by half-time.”
Salah added a fifth goal in the second half to complete his hat-trick while Cristiano Ronaldo – who appeared fortunate to stay on the pitch after lashing out against Curtis Jones in first half stoppage time – had a consolation goal disallowed for offside after a VAR check with a further use of the technology prompting Paul Pogba to be sent off for a dangerous tackle on Keita.
