Man Utd are now so bad they’ve made Roy Keane sad, while Liverpool are quite simply flying – The Warm-Up

It wasn’t great under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Jose Mourinho, it was pretty mediocre under Louis van Gaal, and frankly rather woeful for almost a season under David Moyes – but this has to go down as the worst Manchester United side for 30 years, doesn’t it? United have five games left to pick up 10 Premier League points, or else – factually – it will be their worst season for three decades.

It was second versus fifth heading into last night’s match, but come full-time it was first against sixth, with the defeat to Liverpool exposing not just a gap but an almighty gulf – a gorge? a canyon? – between the Premier League’s top two and this supposed sixth-best team in England.

The stats were damning. And damning is being kind.

A first half without a shot, 24 per cent possession come half-time, and by full-time the Liverpool rout rounded off a 9-0 aggregate win over United in the Premier League this season. That, for United, is their worst combined defeat in the league to another side for 129 years – losing 0-11 across two meetings to Sunderland in 1892-93.

Throughout, there were some commentary nuggets from Gary Neville during the match. “Waste of space” … “What we're watching is nothing. This is nothing” … “They’re walking. At best it’s an amble. They get in their shape… then walk.” … “A joke” … and it got more brutal during the post-match analysis, although initially Roy Keane was just plain sad.

"It's not anger, it was anger earlier in the season. It's sadness,” Keane said. "It's so sad to see. It's not the club I played for. It doesn’t reflect what Man Utd stood for when I played for it.”

Keane looked noticeably flat in the Sky Sports studio, as defeated as his former side, though he eventually warmed to the task when saying Marcus Rashford “played like a child up front” and Jesse Lingard “should've left two years ago” – that’s the Keane we expected!

Neville, meanwhile, declared it the lowest point in the 42 years he has been associated with the club – that is some going – before going on an impassioned rant about the “failing” club structure and giving players a “God-like” status with “piano introductions and Pog-back”.

And alas, all this talk and nothing really about Liverpool. They were magnificent yet again, and a game closer to an unprecedented feat. Manchester City will have their say, of course, but Liverpool are flying and look capable of running any side ragged. That second goal in particular, was sublime, and as some pointed out on Twitter, if it hadn’t been against such a lacklustre opposition, it would have got even more love.

Commiserations to Fulham for their relegation from the Premier League after picking up 19 points and Aleksandar Mitrovic just the four goals all season.

No. Wait. Even years promotion, odds years relegation, so… correction… it’s a well done to Fulham for their promotion to the Premier League!

Just the 40 goals for Mitrovic, too, who has torn the Championship apart this season and both fittingly and unsurprisingly scored twice on the night they sealed their return to the top flight.

It sparked wonderful scenes at full-time at Craven Cottage, with Marco Silva also returning to the Premier League as well – the Fulham boss opting not to shoot down the tunnel when fans flooded the pitch, but instead lapping up all the adoration.

Pep Guardiola has no time for transfer questions while his side are potentially a month-and-a-half away from a Premier League and Champions League double.

“No answer to your question,” Guardiola said, when asked about the reports Manchester City are close to signing Erling Haaland.

He wouldn’t budge, no matter how hard the reporter tried, and who can blame him. After Liverpool went top last night, his primary concern has to be reclaiming first – starting against Brighton tonight.

Then, after a season where he potentially wins two major trophies without a recognised No.9, he can perhaps start to talk Haaland, who by all accounts could be confirmed as a City player soon.

He gets it. That’s the general consensus, and it’s hard to disagree. Here’s Wayne Rooney addressing Derby fans outside their training ground following their relegation from the Championship.

If there are any Aston Villa fans out there, it’s 14 years to the day since your side brushed rivals Birmingham City aside 5-1. An iconic second city derby, for one side, at least…

More Premier League. A quartet of matches tonight, with Manchester City looking to return to the top of the table when taking on Brighton. There’s also Chelsea against Arsenal, Newcastle versus Crystal Palace, and Everton’s attempts to beat the drop continue at home to Leicester. You’ve also got some La Liga and Ligue 1 to tuck into as well, with Real Madrid and PSG both in action, and Juventus taking on Fiorentina in the second Coppa Italia semi-final.