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Liverpool scored a resounding victory over arch-rivals Manchester United in the North-West derby on Sunday, beating the Red Devils 3-1 at Anfield. Manchester United, who had lost in midweek at Stamford Bridge, looked uncharacteristically poor throughout the game, as they were second-best in every department and were convincingly beaten by the mercurial Merseyside outfit. Dirk Kuyt earned the plaudits for a hat-trick, his first for Liverpool, but in fact his contribution was outshone by the all-action performance by his strike partner, January signing Luis Suarez, who put in a brilliant shift for the hosts. For Manchester United, Javier Hernandez scored a late goal that was the slightest of consolations, the loss their third in five league games, the first occurence of that statistic since 2004. Liverpool continued their good form against the big teams, as they climbed above Bolton to 6th place with 42 points, opening up a title race which still sees United holding top spot, three points ahead of Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

35 million pound man Andy Carroll found a place on the bench for Liverpool for the first time in his career, in the big game against United after recovering enough from his thigh injury. Pepe Reina, a possible transfer target for the Red Devils in the summer, started in goal, with the center-half combination of Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel in front of him. With Martin Kelly injured, Fabio Aurelio got a start at left back, with Glen Johnson shifting back into his right-back slot. Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard played in the center of midfield, with Raul Meireles surprisingly playing on their right. Maxi Rodrigues played on the left-hand side, with Dirk Kuyt supporting Luis Suarez upfront.

The visitors kept their attacking 4-4-2 setup that they employed against Chelsea, with league top scorer Dimitar Berbatov finally getting a start alongside the in-form Wayne Rooney. Ryan Giggs was rewarded for his 20 years at United with a start on the left side of midfield, with the league's assist leader Nani playing on the other wing. Darren Fletcher was surprisingly left out of the team, as Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick were given a start in midfield. John O'Shea was handed the right-back's berth in recent times over Rafael da Silva, but the Brazilian was preferred against Liverpool, with Patrice Evra, captain for the day, at left-back. A host of center-backs were injured for United, resulting in Wes Brown getting a rare call-up, pairing up with Chris Smalling in the heart of defence.

The hosts started the game very brightly, as they linked well with each other and passed the ball around in the United half. Liverpool's midfielders seemed to move seamlessly from defence to attack, as they kept popping up in an around the United box as the extra man in attack. Meireles found space in the box after continuing his run from midfield and was found well by a diagonal pass. His headed pass across the face of goal just eluded Kuyt as Liverpool slowly found a stronger stranglehold on the game. United had chances few and far between, but came close through Dimitar Berbatov, the Bulgarian curling an effort with the outside of his boot which kissed Reina's far post on its way behind.

Liverpool deservedly went ahead after 34 minutes, after some brilliant individual skill by Luis Suarez. The Uruguay international skinned three United challenges inside the box before playing a pass across the goal to Dirk Kuyt, who was poaching keenly and scored from a yard out. United were unable to keep any possession at all, as Kuyt tirelessly closed down the visitors' backline. United's miseries were doubled soon afterwards, after a shocking defensive header from Nani. The Portugese winger completely mistimed his clearance, heading back towards the Manchester United box right into Kuyt's path, who finished from point-blank range past a hapless Van der Sar to give Liverpool some breathing space.

Tha half ended on an ugly note, as players of both sides got involved in a fracas after poor challenges by Carragher and Rafael. Carragher ended Nani's involvement in the game on the stroke of 45 minutes after he went into the player's shin with his studs up, which brought about a huge scuffle between the two teams, as United pleaded for a sending-off. However, referee Phil Dowd kept the red card in his pocket, brandishing a caution for the Liverpool defender. That incident was a precursor for Rafael's challenge, as the Brazilian full-back went flying into Lucas moments later. Martin Skrtel got involved in the melee, which earned him and the Brazilian full-back yellow cards.

Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer treatment had an immediate effect after the restart, as United looked to attack with a purpose, after just not turning up in the first 45 minutes. Javier Hernandez, who had come on for the injured Nani, came close early in the second half after a United breakaway, but skied his shot high and wide. Giggs also blazed over the bar with a first-time drive from Rooney's ball into the box. They kept pushing forward, and had the first good clear-cut chance of the half, as a Giggs corner caused trouble in the Liverpool box, and the ball came to Berbatov, who headed right into Meireles who was covering on the line. At the other end, Liverpool had chances of their own, as Lucas picked out the run of Meireles with a reverse pass, whose shot was turned away by Van der Sar.

United were missing their regular center-halves, and that clearly showed in the game, as Wes Brown, at sea throughout , brought down Kuyt in the United half. Suarez, who had endeared himself to every Liverpool fan inside the stadium with his trickery in the first half, lined up a freekick that dipped and headed towards the bottom corner. Edwin Van der Sar, overworked throughout the game, got to the ball but fumbled it, as the ball rolled back into the path of Kuyt, who had made a dart towards the goal. With the United backline switching off, Kuyt had the simplest of tasks of stroking the ball into the net to claim his and Liverpool's third, finishing off United's chances of a fightback.

United were staring down the barrel, as the Kop sang loud and clear, celebrating a scoreline which they themselves had doubts believing. Captain Steven Gerrard had a couple of shots from range which just missed their mark, as Liverpool kept pushing for more goals. At the other end, however, United earned a late consolation goal through Hernandez, as he directed Giggs' floated cross into the net past Reina. However, that did not take the gloss off Liverpool's win, who celebrated their third straight victory over United at Anfield.

Liverpool's whole team performed brilliantly, as the side responded very well to the challenge they were faced with and played out of their skins. Strikers Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt had great games, one scoring three goals, and the other involved in two of those. Steven Gerrard looked imperious in midfield, and in tandem with Meireles and Lucas, overpowered their opposition. Manchester United on the other hand, were a combined failure, their defence at sixes and sevens, and their attack looking impotent, giving the ball away too cheaply and not testing the Liverpool backline enough.

Liverpool will have their tails up when they travel to the AXA Stadium to face Sporting Braga in their Europa League first leg fixture on Thursday. The Red Devils on the other hand, will look to break their slump in their third big game in a row next weekend, as they host Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the FA Cup at Old Trafford.

Teams:

Liverpool (4-4-2) - Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Aurelio (Kyrgiakos 24'), Gerrard, Lucas, Meireles (Carroll 74'), Maxi, Kuyt, Suarez (Cole 89')

Manchester United (4-4-2) - Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva (O'Shea 76'), Smalling, Brown, Evra, Nani (Hernandez 45'), Carrick, Scholes (Fletcher 84'), Giggs, Berbatov, Rooney

Final Scoreline: Liverpool 3 - 1 Manchester United

File Photograph Copyright: Nigel Wilson