Liverpool 4-1 Stoke City: 5 talking points

5) Mark Hughes was despondent

Stoke have had a bad run of results of late

Mark Hughes will rue his rising injury list over the last few games, a problem whose effect could be felt today as Stoke seemed to be missing a few important parts of their starting line-up. However, the tame surrender affected at Anfield will have Hughes worried as to the performances that greet the Stoke fans of late.

Stoke have won one of their last five games now and this run of form has brought the Potters down to 9th in the table. With Liverpool leapfrogging them and Chelsea only three points behind with a game in hand, Stoke could find themselves in the bottom half of the table if they were to continue performing as meekly as they did on the day.

Mark Hughes will want to sort out the issues on the field as soon as possible even with key players missing as a season they began so brightly (having invested sufficiently heavily in the squad) could be on the verge of collapsing for the Potters as they face an in-form Tottenham Hotspur next.