Gary Neville's pre-match show of fear is a bleak marker for how far Manchester United have fallen in comparison to their long-time fierce rivals Liverpool.
The ex-United defender is now one of Sky Sports most beloved pundits and co-commentators but he may have wished he was anywhere but Anfield on Tuesday night as his former side made the short trip to Merseyside. Upon arrival, Neville was offered a team-sheet but a member of staff working at the ground - his seven-word reply represented the gulf in quality between the two teams.
"No thanks," Neville responded. "I’ve already seen it, unfortunately." His nerves were hardly unreasonable, in fact he was proven right to be cautious within four minutes of the first whistle. Luis Diaz opened the scoring early on after calmly converting beyond David de Gea from close range.
As Neville appeared to imply via his trepidation at the line-up, Liverpool now boast the superior player in arguably every position. It is often the case that before big games various media outlets compile a combined starting eleven, yet most of them failed to name a single United star.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick raised a few eyebrows with how he chose to set United up, with the decision to start Phil Jones in the Premier League for just the second time in two years sparking plenty of question marks. Liverpool made sure the difference in quality was on full display for all to see.
Shortly after Diaz's fourth-minute opener, Mohamed Salah doubled the hosts advantage after latching on to an outrageous no-look through ball from his fellow forward Sadio Mane. This gave United a mountain to climb as Liverpool showed no signs of slowing down in what was a dominant first-half.
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Things looked a little bit brighter for United after the break without actually threatening Alisson, but any momentum they may have gathered was swiftly destroyed by Mane's first of the game, Liverpool's third.
The Senegal international ended any wildly unrealistic hopes United may have had of staging their own comeback, before Salah ensured he got his brace with a deft chip to make it 4-0 and really add insult to their visitors injury.
United now languish as low as sixth in the table having played at least one game more than the two rivals for top four that currently sit above them in Tottenham and Arsenal. The Red Devils are three points adrift of the Champions League qualification spots with just five fixtures left to play.
