Liverpool’s five biggest wins over Manchester United
Liverpool made history on Sunday as they trounced their greatest rivals Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield to record their biggest-ever win over the Red Devils.
Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah all scored braces during an unforgettable performance from Jurgen Klopp’s side, with Salah’s double taking him past Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer in the Premier League.
Roberto Firmino capped off the humiliation with a late seventh, taking the game out on its own as Liverpool’s biggest win in English football’s most famous fixture.
With March 5, 2023 now etched into the history books of Liverpool – albeit amidst an otherwise disappointing season – Sports Mole looks back at all of the Reds’ five biggest wins against their bitter rivals.
Liverpool 5-0 Manchester United (September 19, 1925)
Liverpool were crowned First Division champions in back-to-back seasons in 1921-22 and 1922-23, but by the time Man United visited in September 1925 they had begun the early years of what would turn into a 24-year wait for another title.
The two sides were relatively evenly matched in the 1925-26 campaign, with Liverpool finishing just two places above Man United, but the 19,000-strong Anfield crowd witnessed a one-sided encounter in this match.
Dick Forshaw helped himself to a hat-trick on the day, while Harry Chambers opened the scoring for Liverpool and Archibald Rawlings finished the rout for a side including legendary goalkeeper Elisha Scott.
Manchester United 0-5 Liverpool (October 24, 2021)
The only entry in this list to have come at Old Trafford, Klopp’s men ran riot against Manchester United in October 2021 to record their biggest-ever win at the home of their great rivals.
Liverpool were two up within 15 minutes courtesy of goals from Naby Keita and Diogo Jota, leaving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man United team – which included Cristiano Ronaldo – shell-shocked.
Worse was to come too, with Mohamed Salah scoring twice in the final seven minutes of the first half to make it 4-0 before the break, and the Egyptian then rounded off his hat-trick five minutes into the second half.
The visiting fans were baying for more, but Liverpool took their foot off the pedal at five and, in the end, the scoreline arguably flattered Manchester United more than it did Liverpool.
It was only the second time that the Reds had scored five times at Old Trafford, and the first since 1936, while Salah’s treble was the first from a Liverpool player away to Man United since Fred Howe achieved it in that same game 85 years earlier.
Liverpool 7-1 Newton Heath (October 12, 1895)
The previous standard-bearer for Liverpool’s biggest-ever win in this fixture came in just their second meeting, back when Manchester United were still known as Newton Heath.
The Red Devils had been relegated from the top flight two years earlier, while Liverpool joined them in the second tier a year later, but this victory helped the Merseysiders bounce straight back as champions, whereas Man United were left in Division Two for another decade.
As was the case 128 years later, three different Liverpool players scored twice, with Frank Becton, Fred Geary and Harry Bradshaw all helping themselves to braces.
James Ross was the other name on the scoresheet as the Reds demolished their opponents, although the incredibly unpredictable nature of football in those days was showcased when Newton Heath won 5-2 in the reverse fixture less than a month later.
Liverpool 7-1 Manchester United (April 22, 1916)
With regular league football on hold during World War I, one of Liverpool’s greatest-ever results against Man United came in the Lancashire Section – Subsidiary Tournament (South) in April 1916.
Reds legend Ephraim Longworth was in the Liverpool side as they hammered United at Anfield, but it was Frederick Pagnam who stole the show with a hat-trick.
Dave Watson weighed in with two goals as well, while Ernie Pinkney and Walter Wadsworth contributed two of Liverpool’s four goals in the final 25 minutes to underline the emphatic victory.
Liverpool 7-0 Manchester United (March 5, 2023)
Now standing alone as Liverpool’s greatest-ever result in this famous fixture, and the second entry from the Klopp era, Sunday’s victory will live long in the memory.
There will have been plenty of Liverpool fans dreading the visit of an in-form United side, and particularly an in-form Marcus Rashford, considering their defence has been cut open all too easily on numerous occasions already this season.
Indeed, the visitors arguably had the best chances of the first half until Liverpool took the lead in the 43rd minute, with Gakpo coolly cutting inside past Raphael Varane and curling his low finish into the bottom corner after Andrew Robertson’s through-ball.
From that point on, it was one-way traffic as Man United suffered an almighty collapse and Liverpool ruthlessly punished them during a second half which saw them score six times without reply.
Undoubtedly aided by poor defending, Liverpool nonetheless showed signs of their best form which has been all-too rare this season, and Gakpo’s second and Salah’s first were particularly eye-catching strikes.
The win leaves Liverpool well-placed to muscle their way into the Champions League places, but in the immediate aftermath it is the unprecedented bragging rights which will delight the supporters the most.
