Reds and Devils get humiliated

ENGLAND - Champions Liverpool suffered a humiliating 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa and Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho savoured a 6-1 win over his former club Manchester United in one of the most astonishing days in Premier League history.

Bitter rivals Liverpool and United were joined in misery this morning after chastening defeats that rank among the worst that English football's two most successful clubs have ever suffered.

Historians were reaching for the record books as the goals flowed, first at Old Trafford as United conceded six goals in a match for only the third time in the Premier League era, then at Villa Park as Liverpool surrendered seven goals for the first time since 1963.

For the first time since 1986, United have lost their opening two home league games of the season and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer labelled their heaviest home defeat since 2011 as "my worst day ever".

"It's very embarrassing, it hurt all the players. It hurts me as the manager," Solskjaer said.

"I'll hold my hands up, I'm responsible for this. I promise we'll do everything we can to turn this around."

Jurgen Klopp was so taken by surprise at Liverpool's collapse that he actually wore a bemused grin at times as his team fell to the biggest defeat of the German's career.

Liverpool's chief tormentor was Ollie Watkins, who became the first Villa player to score a hattrick against the Reds for 88 years.

Villa have won all three league games this term, while Liverpool's first defeat of the season left Klopp wondering how to fix a leaky defence that has shipped 11 goals in four matches. 

Just hours before Liverpool's epic meltdown, Tottenham boss Mourinho, sacked by United in 2018, inflicted a huge blow to Solskjaer's own job security.

"To win 6-1 against Manchester United at Old Trafford is an honour for all of us, considering the dimension of Manchester United and Old Trafford," Mourinho said.

Meanwhile, Arsenal beat Sheffield United 2-1 to make it three wins from four games.

However, Leicester’s perfect start came to a shuddering halt with a 3-0 defeat at home to West Ham, while Southampton beat West Brom 2-0 and Wolves defeated Fulham 1-0. AFP, 5 October, 2020.