Accrington Stanley needed a stiff drink after learning the harsh realities of sharing a pitch with Liverpool.

The chasm between them remains as large as 35 years ago when both clubs featured in a famous advert for milk with the immortal pay-off line: “Accrington Stanley, who are they?”.

Nobody at Anfield on Saturday will forget how the plucky underdogs – 86 places behind Premier League leaders Liverpool – gave it a go.

And this wasn’t even full-strength Liverpool Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah given the afternoon off and 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha handed a debut.

‘I think the fans liked what they saw,’ said Reds manager Arne Slot afterwards about the club’s latest whizzkid. ‘He is very quick on his feet and changes direction really fast.’

Trent Alexander-Arnold put Liverpool in a commanding position before the break with a stunning drive

The right-back marked captaining the side with a crisp shot that arrowed into the top corner

Federico Chiesa came off the bench to score his first goal for the Reds since his summer arrival

Accies, 19th in League Two, survived half-an-hour before Diogo Jota became the first Liverpool player since the legendary Billy Liddell to score against them.

The killer moment arrived on the stroke of half-time when Alexander-Arnold, wearing the captain’s armband, drilled a second goal into the top corner that goalkeeper William Crellin barely saw.

‘That’s what a world-class player can do,’ acknowledged defeated captain Shaun Whalley and even Accies manager John Doolan, who coached a six-year-old Trent at the Liverpool academy, couldn’t hide his admiration.

‘Such a humble and wonderful guy,’ he said. ‘I’d said before the game I wasn’t sure if Trent would remember me. I was applauding our fans at the end when he came over in a big coat and said: “I do remember!”

Given the criticism he faced after his poor performance against Manchester United last weekend, and fears among The Kop he may join Real Madrid at the end of the season when his contract at Anfield ends, the Liverpudlian defender would have been thrilled to hear the positive reaction from supporters on Saturday. ‘It’s the biggest compliment you can have,’ added Slot.

To Accrington’s credit, they turned up at Anfield showing more ambition than many Premier League sides do.

They pressed with energy and pushed their wing-backs high but bridging the gap in quality was simply beyond them.

Liverpool’s opening goal after 29 minutes was a case in point. Stanley sent players forward after winning a free-kick only to find themselves falling behind within seconds.

Diogo Jota opened the scoring for Arne Slot’s side after a trademark Liverpool counter

The League Two side gave a good account of themselves and were even able to trouble Reds stopper Caoimhin Kelleher

Accrington boss John Doolan would have been pleased by much of what he saw from his team at Anfield

Kostas Tsimikas cleared and from there the break was rapid. First-time passes by Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexander-Arnold released Darwin Nunez down the right and, for once, the Uruguayan showed composure to slide in Jota for a tap-in.

Liverpool could have scored more. Nunez twice missed from close range, Tyler Morton curled a shot over and Harvey Elliott was denied by Crellin.

Alexander-Arnold showed them how to do it after 45 minutes. After Ngumoha had a shot blocked, he collected the ball on the right edge of the penalty and hit it so cleanly a goal was inevitable.

Chiesa, who won the Italian Cup with Juventus last season, replaced Szoboszlai at half-time.

He was to make a significant impact but first it was Accrington who got a new lease of life attacking the end where their noisy fans were housed.

Woods cracked a shot from the edge of the area which beat Caoimhin Kelleher only to thunder back off the crossbar. It was agonisingly close with Woods admitting afterwards: ‘I was just thinking, please, please.’

Donald Love, a former Manchester United player, then missed out on his moment of glory by heading over from a corner.

Ngumoha was embraced by Arne Slot when he was replaced after 72 minutes and it was his replacement Danns, not much older at 18, who added a third goal four minutes later.

Jayden Danns came off the bench to score his third goal for the club, with all three coming in the FA Cup

Chiesa was rewarded for his impressive 45 minutes as he tried to prove to Arne Slot that he can withstand the rigours of English football

He initially set up Chiesa but continued his run after the Italian’s shot had been saved by Crellin and was rewarded by firing in the rebound.

Chiesa, whose first season in England has been interrupted by injury, then had time to add his first Liverpool goal, a precise strike into the corner from the edge of the box.

Slot revealed the winger would have started had he not missed training sessions this week because of illness. ‘If you play for this club you want to score your first goal, especially in front of your fans,’ said the manager.

‘It is a good first step but let’s not get carried away. Although I liked the way Accrington played a lot it is a League Two team.’