Good Guys In Red 3, British Evil Empire 1

The biggest match of the season for Liverpool happened today at Anfield, and their opponent was their longtime rival Manchester United.

It was like the Red Sox vs. Yankees at Fenway. And it was no contest.

It was a case of Men vs. Boys, and Liverpool dominated the match, on the backs of Dirk Kuyt's hat trick, as Liverpool rolled to a 3-1 win over ManU.

Kuyt scored in the 34th and 39th minutes of the first half, and the rout wwas on. Kuyt scored his first hat trick in six years twenty minutes into the second half, and it was all over but the shouting. It was the first hat trick by any player in the rivalry since Peter Beardsley did it for Liverpool in 1991.

United avoided the shutout in injury time with Javier Hernandez' goal. In American terms, this was like the Red Sox beating up on the Yankees 10-0 at Fenway, with New York breaking the shutout with two outs in the ninth. Here's more on the match from Soccernet.

Liverpool is now sixth in the Premiership, and trail Tottenham by five points for fifth and Chelsea by six points for fourth place and a place in the European Champions League.