Liverpool's demolition of Toulouse 'ominous' for rivals, claims Cole

Liverpool’s ruthless demolition job of Toulouse is ‘ominous’ for the Reds’ Premier League rivals, claims Joe Cole… with Jurgen Klopp’s ‘rocking and rolling’ side ‘so difficult to stop’ once they have momentum

  • MATCH REPORT: Jurgen Klopp’s free-scoring Reds put on a five-star show
  • Joe Cole claims that a Liverpool side with momentum are ‘so difficult to stop’ 
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Liverpool have sent a warning to their rivals that they are going to be so difficult to stop now they have momentum, claims Joe Cole.

Jurgen Klopp barely stopped smiling on Thursday night as his free-scoring side produced a five-star show to defeat Toulouse 5-1 in the Europa League.

The Reds looked at their scintillating best for much of the contest at Anfield and for former Liverpool midfielder Cole, he is seeing a version of Liverpool that is going to be hard to slow down. 

‘It’s ominous for the Europa League, but also for the Premier League,’ Cole said on TNT Sports.

‘They’re really rocking and rolling now, big smiles on everyone’s faces, and once Jurgen Klopp teams start getting momentum, it’s so difficult to stop them.’

Liverpool looked back to their best with a ruthless 5-1 Europa League win over Toulouse

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Diogo Jota got the wheels rolling nine minutes in before Waturu Endo and Darwin Nunez added goals two and three before half-time.  

Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah would add to the tally before the night was over and Cole was in awe of some of the patterns in play, convinced now that the ‘good times are back’. 

‘There’s so much power, so much creativity, all over the pitch,’ he added. 

‘You have still got Salah at the very top of his game, Jota, Nunez, the options in midfield are unbelievable, and you can only see that this team is going to go very deep in all competitions. The good times are back.’

There were question marks about Liverpool last season, with marquee arrival Nunez struggling for form and the Reds eventually stuttering to a fifth place finish in the Premier League.

Summer arrival Ryan Gravenberch (left) thrived and he was among the five goalscorers 

Jurgen Klopp barely stopped smiling all evening as his side continued to gain momentum

Liverpool fell to fourth round exits in the FA Cup and League Cup and were eliminated in the last-16 of the Champions League.

A season on and Liverpool appear re-energised and are back in the conversation as legitimate Premier League title contenders. 

Cole continued: ‘How they found themselves in this competition – they had a blip last year, but it just shows the quality of Jurgen Klopp’s management that he’s now got a team ready to compete.’

Fellow pundit Eni Aluko was left equally impressed with Liverpool and is convinced they will only continue to get even stronger.

‘The momentum’s important and they’ve started really well in the league,’ Aluko said.

‘This midfield is a changed midfield. You’ve got Gravenberch to come back, Szobszlai to come back, Mo Salah came on today – there’s so many options for Liverpool to keep the machine rolling.’

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