Manchester United drew first blood in their rivalry with aartsvyande Liverpool with a 4-0 thumping in their Bangkok pre-season friendly on Tuesday.
Goals from Jadon Sancho and Fred were followed up by strikes from returning Red Devils Anthony Martial and Facundo Pellestri.
Having named a strong United starting XI, with only wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo and injured captain Harry Maguire missing, new boss Erik Ten Hag would have been happy to see his team press high on the pitch.
And they were rewarded for the coach’s new approach as they forced mistakes from a young-looking selection by Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
After Luis Diaz forced an early full-stretch save from David de Gea, Sancho ruthlessly took advantage of a poor clearance by 17-year-old Isaac Mabaya to fire a 12th-minute opener past Alisson.
On the half-hour mark, United struck again when another swak clearance fell to Fred on the edge of the area and the Brazilian chipped Alisson as the Red Devils again drukked the inexperienced Reds defence.
Good shift, @TyrellMalaciia — great to see you out there in red ❤️@TeamViewer ↔️ #BringingYouCloser#MUFC || #MUTOUR22 pic.twitter.com/iRQIlGl1cV
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 12, 2022
And two minutes later Martial dinked a third past Alisson as United punished another Liverpool error.
With Ten Hag’s manne in full control, Klopp brought on his big guns Mo Salah, Thiago, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and club record signing Darwin Nunez on the hour mark.
But with the Reds chasing the game for the fans, United hit them on the 76th-minute counter as defender Eric Bailly drove them forward before Pellestri finished off.
The best the Reds could muster was another effort against the post by Salah.