Manchester United fans might have thought they had witnessed their worst-ever results against Liverpool, the 5-0 in 2021 and the 7-0 last season. But if the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has taught us anything, it's that things can always get worse.
Yet again on Sunday, United were blown away by their hated rivals from down the East Lancashire Road, and although the 3-0 scoreline was not as bad as those previous maulings, the performance was on a similar level. Virgil van Dijk said that Liverpool should have scored five or six goals, and it was difficult to disagree.
Liverpool bossed the game, and there was also a bloodbath on the touchline, where the two Dutch managers cut very different figures. Arne Slot was in his element and said the game had gone as well as he could have hoped. He has had less than two months to work with the squad, but Liverpool already look close to the finished article, solid in defence and frighteningly good in attack.
United, however, look dishevelled and out of sync with each other in their third season under Erik ten Hag. To say they are still a work in progress would be being too kind. Instead, it is tempting to recall Ralf Rangnick's assessment in 2022 that the club needed "surgery of the open heart".
Rangnick uttered those brutal words just as Ten Hag had been named as United's next manager, but nearly two-and-a-half years later, they still ring true.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Old Trafford...