Liverpool vs Cardiff City: Reds finish with a flurry to kill off Neil Warnock's men
Re-live all the action from Anfield
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Liverpool moved back to the top of the Premier League as Neil Warnock's assessment of Cardiff's hopes at Anfield proved accurate.
Warnock delivered a startling admission that trying to get a result on Merseyside was "virtually impossible" on the eve of the fixture, and his Bluebirds side rarely looked like proving him wrong.
Sadio Mane's brace, plus Mohamed Salah's strike and substitute Xherdan Shaqiri's first goal for the club sealed a 4-1 victory which was enough to move Liverpool three points clear of Manchester City.
The only blemish for Liverpool came when Cardiff striker Callum Paterson scored a scrappy goal, dashing the Reds' hopes of extending their run of clean sheets in the top-flight at home to 10 matches.
Paterson's effort seemed to set up a grandstand finish but in truth Cardiff were comfortably second best, with only two attempts at goal, in stark contrast to 19 from Liverpool, who enjoyed 80 per cent possession.
Re-live the action below
Callum will be a long shortly with all of the team news and build-up to the game at Anfield between Liverpool and Cardiff City. In the meantime, here's the latest from Liverpool and the fight to support Sean Cox, the supporter attacked outside the ground in April:
Liverpool to go top?
Avoid defeat today and Jurgen Klopp's side will move - perhaps temporarily - to the top of the Premier League table. Their imperious form at Anfield, and Cardiff's questionable away record, suggests that is highly likely.
Even Neil Warnock, probably in an attempt to soften the blow of an imminent heavy defeat, has admitted as much. It will be "virtually impossible", he said, for his team to come away with a result. Maybe such fatalism will be justified by the end. Or maybe, just maybe, Cardiff can spring a surprise?
Follow all the action from Anfield here. Team news to come shortly.
Changes
As expected, Klopp opts to make some changes, but this is still a formidable lineup. Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson are given a breather, and Xherdan Shaqiri drops out for Adam Lallana.
Elsewhere
There are five 3pm kick-offs in the Premier League today, and we'll be providing goal updates as and when they go in. Brighton host Wolves, Bournemouth go to Fulham, bottom of the league Newcastle are at Southampton and Watford play Huddersfield.
A long wait
It has been a long time since Cardiff last tasted victory at Anfield. Close to 60 years in fact. They beat Liverpool 4-0 in 1959 in the early days of Bill Shankly's managerial reign.
A repeat of that scoreline today doesn't seem likely.
Tough task
The stats don't bode well for Cardiff either. Liverpool haven't conceded a league goal at Anfield since February, helped by the imposing presence of Virgil van Dijk in defence. Cardiff, meanwhile, have scored only once away from home in the Premier League this season.
And if that wasn't enough relentless pessimism for all you Cardiff fans, here's something from Opta:
Complacency
Cardiff, if they are to get a result today, will need a number of things to go in their favour. Liverpool are a far superior side, and are growing used to swatting aside lesser opposition at Anfield. But complacency could still become an issue. As much as it will be on the players' minds, avoiding it can be a challenge.
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