Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool will now be “very, very hard to stop” in their pursuit of the Premier League title after watching the Reds hand his side a 4-0 thrashing to open up a 13-point lead.

Second-placed Leicester were made to look second rate at the King Power Stadium, although were remarkably still in the game by the 70th minute as Liverpool only had Roberto Firmino’s 31st-minute header to show for their superiority.

But once James Milner despatched a penalty following Caglar Soyuncu’s handball, Liverpool’s 17th league win from 18 matches this season was wrapped up with Firmino’s second – and fourth in three games following his goals in the Club World Cup – and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sizzling first-time drive to cap an exceptional performance.

Former Liverpool boss Rodgers, whose side were also beaten 3-1 at third-placed Manchester City on Saturday, said: “The last two games have been great benchmarks for us.

“Because of how well we’ve done, we’ve been catapulted into this title race, but then you’ve seen in the last couple of games, the quality of the opposition we’ve played, and Liverpool were absolutely terrific.

“They are going to be very, very hard to stop. There’s no doubt. They’re a fantastic team, with confidence high. They’ve become winners now, and haven’t lost many games now over an 18-month period.

“They’ve enough players, enough experience and enough quality to stay focused and get the job done.”

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