Liverpool were on the end of one of the strangest Premier League results in history on Sunday.England's top flight simply must be considered the best league in the world because there's been enough thrills and spills during the 2020/21 campaign to fill an entire calendar year.But alas, Manchester United capitulating 6-1 against Tottenham Hotspur proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg on Sunday afternoon as champions Liverpool also shipped a hatful.
Tough start for Liverpool
Most astonishing of all, however, is the fact Aston Villa were the team dishing out the thrashing, the very club that survived relegation to the Championship by a nose-hair last season.
But you certainly wouldn't have known that when two goals from Ollie Watkins fired them into an early advantage over the very same champions who only lost three league games in 2019/20.
And it's for that reason that Liverpool fans must have been shrugging their shoulders when Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back for them, seemingly kickstarting a straight-forward comeback.
Shocking first-half for Liverpool
However, that couldn't have been further from the truth as John McGinn immediately restored Villa's two-goal advantage, before Watkins astonishingly helped himself to a first-half hat-trick.
The Birmingham club were roundly criticised for spending over £30 million on a Championship forward, but it's fair to say that smashing a treble against Jurgen Klopp's side repays that fee.
And look, when wrote our article at half-time when Liverpool were 4-1 down, we didn't possibly think things could get any worse but here we are, here we are: football, you crazy little thing.
From bad to worse for the champions
In fact, the situation was so crazy that Ross Barkley, formerly of Everton, helped himself to the fifth goal with a deflected strike on his debut for the club after leaving Chelsea on loan.
Salah then looked to have restored some hope with his second of the night, but it quickly proved to be a consolation with Jack Grealish proceeding to help himself to a remarkable brace.
The Villa captain first profited from a bit of luck when his deflected strike beat Adrian all ends up, yet there could be no denying the brilliance of his second with a fine one-on-one finish.
Historic Premier League result
It's a shocking result that produces a shocking statistic in tandem: this is the first time that Liverpool have conceded seven goals since a 7-2 defeat to Tottenham all the way back in 1963.
It's a day the Premier League will never forget and frankly, ladies and gentlemen, I'm off for a lay down.