Liverpool prolonged their perfect start to the 2023-24 Europa League with a 5-1 crushing of Ligue 1 outfit Toulouse at Anfield in Group E.
A chaotic first half saw all of Diogo Jota, Wataru Endo and Darwin Nunez nullify Thijs Dallinga's equaliser, and while the Reds had to survive another couple of scares against their fearless visitors, a deserved fourth from midfield maestro Ryan Gravenberch put the result beyond any doubt before Mohamed Salah's injury-time fifth.
Making no fewer than eight changes for Thursday's affair, Jurgen Klopp handed Luke Chambers his first start at left-back, while Jota, Gravenberch and Trent Alexander-Arnold were the only players from the win over Everton to keep their spots.
Klopp's decision to keep faith with Jota paid dividends with just nine minutes in, as the Portugal international latched onto Joe Gomez's interception, left several white shirts in his wake during a terrific solo run and coolly picked out the bottom corner.
Liverpool were good value for their advantage, and Nunez fashioned a golden chance to make it two in the 14th minute, but Guillaume Restes did well to deny the Uruguayan frontman in front of the raucous Violets faithful.
Only two minutes later, though, Klopp's side were caught high up the field, and Aron Donnum's through ball found Dallinga, who was being kept onside by Alexander-Arnold and fired home the equaliser under Caoimhin Kelleher.
Toulouse were not afraid to play through the hosts' high defensive line, but at the other end of the field, the effervescent Gravenberch created a yard of space in the 28th minute, but his bottom corner-bound strike was beaten away by Restes.
There was nothing the teenage goalkeeper could do about Endo's first goal for the Reds on the half-hour mark, though, as the Japan international met Alexander-Arnold's outswinging delivery and left Restes rooted to the spot with a header into the side of the net.
Nunez would subsequently make sure that there was not another immediate reprieve for Toulouse, as just four minutes after Endo's maiden Liverpool goal, a blocked Curtis Jones shot fell kindly for the South American in the left-hand side of the box, and he duly rifled a thunderous effort into the roof of the net at Restes's near post.
Despite the two-goal deficit, Toulouse had their moments in the Liverpool half during the opening 45 and should have reduced the deficit in the 47th minute, when Kelleher was the most relieved man in the stadium.
The Republic of Ireland goalkeeper's awful pass out from the back was cut out by a white shirt, leaving Gabriel Suazo with space and time aplenty in front of a largely open goal - which was only protected by Alexander-Arnold - but the Chilean could only hit the ball straight at the Reds captain's thigh.
Suazo's blushes would somewhat be spared in the 65th minute as Nunez came up with the second open-goal miss of the evening, latching onto Jota's pass and skipping around Restes before hitting the post with the goal at his mercy.
However, the striker could afford a wry smile after his blunder, as the ball cannoned back off the woodwork to Gravenberch, who made no mistake from close range to deservedly get in on the act.
The scoreline hardly told the full story, as Carles Martinez's side bravely committed plenty of bodies forward whenever the opportunity for a counter-attack presented itself, but Kelleher was left largely untroubled in between the sticks.
Debuts for Calum Scanlon and James McConnell also arrived in the dying embers, and just before the full-time whistle blew, Salah came up with his customary Anfield goal contribution, blasting in the Reds' fifth off the bar.
Still leading the way with nine points from nine in Group E, Liverpool now prepare to host Nottingham Forest in Sunday's Premier League clash, while Toulouse - who drop to third - travel to Montpellier HSC in Sunday's Ligue 1 contest. body check tags ::
