Liverpool crushed Southampton 4-0 on Saturday to put pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea as Arsenal got back on track with victory over Newcastle to hand Eddie Howe his first defeat as Magpies manager.
Steven Gerrard made it two wins out of two as Aston Villa boss with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace while the matches between Norwich and Wolves and Brighton and Leeds both ended goalless.
Diogo Jota scored twice for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool -- including one goal after just 97 seconds -- to warm the Anfield faithful on a bitterly cold afternoon on Merseyside.
Liverpool’s third consecutive victory in all competitions since losing at West Ham lifted them to second in the table, one point behind Chelsea, who host Manchester United on Sunday.
Third-placed Manchester City would go move back into second place if they beat West Ham, also on Sunday.
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Free-scoring Liverpool have now scored 39 goals in their 13 Premier League games this season, their highest goal total at this stage of a top-flight campaign, and Klopp welcomed their return to top form.
“We didn’t only lose at West Ham, we drew two games before as well,” said Klopp. “So, all of a sudden, we were in a bad moment. Now we look like we are in a better moment.”
He added: “The things that happened to this team in the last few years were special and that's mostly because of the outstanding mindset and mentality of the boys.”
Liverpool needed less than two minutes to take the lead when Sadio Mane played in Andy Robertson and the Scot's cross was perfectly weighted for Jota to finish from close range.
Jota netted again in the 32nd minute with a simple finish from Mohamed Salah’s pass for his eighth club goal this term. Thiago Alcantara had ended a lengthy goal drought in the midweek Champions League win over Porto and the Spain midfielder was back on the scoresheet in the 37th minute before Virgil van Dijk bagged Liverpool’s fourth shortly after half-time.
