Liverpool and Steven Gerrard can both improve, coach Rafael Benitez said after his captain scored twice to help his side to a 2-1 win at Olympique Marseille.
Saturday's clash between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford is already shaping up as an early-season eliminator to challenge runaway leaders Manchester City for the Premier League title.
Liverpool's lingering Premier League title hopes virtually disappeared on Saturday when they lost 2-0 at Middlesbrough as the home side secured their first league win in 15 matches.
Manchester United manager David Moyes has said that beating Liverpool in the Capital One Cup was a big relief as it was a big game for the side after losing to Manchester City in an embarrassing 4-1 defeat recently.
Chelsea brought a whole new dimension to the Premier League title race when they handed Manchester City their first defeat of the season on Saturday to leave Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool as the new leaders.
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane scored his 100th goal for the club to help secure a 3-0 victory over lively Crystal Palace in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday.
'This team is really good and we have invested a lot in it. Now we have to work with that'
A summary of Friday's action in the Premier League.
West Bromwich Albion were relegated from the Premier League after just one season when they lost 2-0 to Liverpool at The Hawthorns Sunday. Liverpool stayed in second place, behind champions Manchester United, moving on to 83 points -- three ahead of Chelsea who beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in the day's other match.
Liverpool have not beaten Manchester United in the FA Cup for 85 years
Manchester United continued their push for a top-four finish with a comfortable 3-0 victory at champions Leicester City on Sunday, extending their unbeaten Premier League run to 15 games.
The Spanish striker completed his nine million euros transfer from Real Madrid to Liverpool after passing a medical.
A young Arsenal side delighted a near capacity crowd at the Emirates Stadium with a scintillating 2-1 victory over Liverpool to secure a place in the League Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Inter Milan face Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur and PSV Eindhoven in Group B which features three former European champions.
Arsenal inflicted Liverpool's sixth Premier League defeat of the season with a 2-1 victory on Sunday, their first league win at Anfield since 2003.
Manchester United scored a 1-0 win over Barcelona in the second leg semi-final on Tuesday to set up an all-English Champions League final against either Liverpool or Chelsea in Moscow next month. Scholes sent a swerving shot high and wide of goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the 14th minute to give United a 1-0 aggregate victory.
Reigning champions Manchester City took the lead after 24 seconds but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.
Ronaldo's 62nd minute strike was his 17th league goal this season
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho has been provisionally suspended for 30 days after failing an anti-doping test, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Thursday.
Arsenal and Liverpool drew 1-1 for the third time this season on Saturday as the London side's Premier League title hopes suffered another blow. Arsenal could now end the weekend eight points behind league leaders Manchester United with five games left.
Liverpool kept alive their hopes of Champions League football next season with a comfortable 2-0 Premier League victory on Monday against a Newcastle United side who finished with 10 men.
Players from newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester City dominated the Professional Footballers' Association's (PFA) Team of the Year announced on Wednesday, occupying five out of 11 spots.
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said he was worried about the impact manager Juergen Klopp was having at his old team's great rivals Liverpool.
Christian Benteke condemned struggling Sunderland to a 1-0 defeat and sent Liverpool level on points with sixth-placed Manchester United in the last Premier League game of the year on Wednesday.
Images from the English Premier League matches played on Wednesday night.
The incident was one of many involving match officials being confronted in the top flight at the weekend, with the FA also charging Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp with improper conduct for his outburst at an assistant referee.
Phil Foden kept Manchester City's Premier League title challenge on track with a superb second-half double as his side hit back to clinch a 3-1 home victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool ended their seven-year wait for a home league win over Manchester United on Saturday when Ryan Babel came off the bench to give them a deserved 2-1 victory over the champions. Their victory took them to 10 points from four games, the same as Chelsea, who won 3-1 at Manchester City, despite Robinho marking his debut for City with a goal after 13 minutes.
Liverpool will cover most miles of any Premier League club in pre-season preparation.
The result also means Everton have clinched fourth place to qualify for the Champions League for the first time.
Five-time European champions Liverpool are in the quarter-finals of this year's competition
Brazil, who are fifth in the CONMEBOL table with 18 points from 12 games, host Colombia on March 21 and visit Argentina five days later in a match that could see Neymar come up against former Barcelona and Paris St Germain teammate Lionel Messi.
'A new ownership structure must embed supporters and include fan share ownership'
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday.
Defender Kolo Toure believes Liverpool can recover from Sunday's painful League Cup final shootout defeat against Manchester City at Wembley and rescue their season by winning the Europa League. Juergen Klopp's side, seeking their first trophy in four years, face bitter rivals Manchester United this month in the last-16 of the continent's second tier competition. "You have to learn to lose sometimes before you win. We learn as a team together. The Europa League can save the season and the Premier League is not over yet," Toure told British media. Liverpool, who are ninth in the table, can quickly avenge Sunday's defeat when they host fourth-placed City in the Premier League on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet said it was important for the five-times European champions to bounce back quickly from their Wembley disappointment.
Manchester United strolled to a 2-0 defeat of Manchester City on Sunday to return to the top of the English Premier League and closer to a record-equalling 18th title. Chelsea made sure of finishing at least third with a 4-1 victory against their fellow Champions League semi-final losers Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The visitors got off to the perfect start when a mix up at the back saw Riyad Mahrez square for Jamie Vardy to tap into an open goal in front of the Kop in the third minute. Liverpool looked for an immediate riposte, but Salah missed two gilt-edged opportunities before Sadio Mane saw an effort disallowed for offside as Juergen Klopp's men grew frustrated.
Liverpool fielded a starting lineup consisting mainly of reserves and youth team players with an average age of 19.4, a club record.
Free from the extra burden of European football, Liverpool have a strong chance to win the Premier League this season under a "ruthless" Juergen Klopp, according to Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. Liverpool, who finished eighth in the league standings last season, are fourth in the table this campaign, having beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and champions Leicester City in their opening seven games.
