2 debuts & a hat-trick of goals AND assists – will this Liverpool record ever be beaten? – Liverpool FC

Liverpool have a long history of piling on the goals and causing misery, and one must spare a thought for Stoke, who were on the receiving end of a record that still stands 24 years later.

It is a different feeling when your side feels almost invincible, that everything they touch turns to gold – we’ve had that experience with almost every manager at the helm.

Bob Paisley had the 11-0 win over Stromsgodset, Bill Shankly the 10-0 triumph over Dundalk, Kenny Dalglish with another 10-0 vs. Fulham, Jurgen Klopp with a 9-0 over Bournemouth and Rafa Benitez enjoyed an 8-0 rout of Besiktas.

Gerard Houllier can also attest to seeing his side turn on the magic and have Liverpool fans in dreamland while the opposition live out a nightmare.

It was November 29 in the year 2000, a season you may recall ending with a historic cup treble, but before any trophy was lifted that campaign, Houllier’s men romped to an 8-0 win at Stoke.

It remains the biggest win away from Anfield in the club’s history.

Can they do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke? The answer was an emphatic yes!

A double hat-trick

A League Cup fourth-round tie took Liverpool to Stoke, who were in the Championship, and what unfolded was nothing short of a demolition job.

Houllier named Richie Partridge in his starting XI to hand him the first of three first-team games, Stephen Wright would come off the bench and make his debut, and a certain Robbie Fowler ran riot.

Between minute six and 85, the No. 9 scored three and assisted three in a captivating individual performance.

Christian Ziege (1-0), Markus Babbel (3-0) and Danny Murphy (6-0) all had the striker to thank for teeing up their strikes, and Fowler himself netted the game’s fourth, seventh and eighth goals.

Vladimir Smicer and Sami Hyypia got in on the action, too, making it six different goalscorers on the night – and all this happened without Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen!

Liverpool XI: Arphexad; Babbel, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Ziege; McAllister, Murphy, Partridge; Fowler, Smicer

The Britannia Stadium hosted 27,109 fans that November night, its record crowd at the time, and as it began to empty, fans sang their anthem – it was poignant that they would utter “I just couldn’t take any more.”

So, Liverpool progressed in the League Cup and would go on to lift the trophy at the end of the season, and this result away from home has not been bettered in the almost 24 years since.

It has been close to being equalled on three different occasions – 7-0 vs. Birmingham (2006), 7-0 vs. Maribor (2017) and 7-0 vs. Crystal Palace (2020) – but Houllier’s men remain untouched.

Will it ever be beaten?