While Toulouse boss Carles Martínez Novell’s outfit was far from the most pressing matter at Anfield, his blue jeans certainly stood out on the touchline, and there was something equally casual about the way Diogo Jota waltzed through the visiting defence to score a dazzling solo opener.
That set the tone for a frantic first period, and the sea of travelling purple-shirted fans were given something to shout about when danger man Thijs Dallinga took advantage of Liverpool’s high line, raced through on goal and fired under Caoimhín Kelleher.
It was evident that Toulouse had rocked up on Merseyside for a firefight, and while that made for an entertaining contest, it also left them defensively vulnerable.
The Reds needed nothing fancy to reclaim the lead, with Wataru Endō steering in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross to notch his first Liverpool goal, and Darwin Núñez lashed in at the near post just four minutes later to give Jürgen Klopp’s side a comfortable two-goal buffer heading into the break.
Shortly after the restart, Kelleher’s slack pass gave Gabriel Suazo a huge chance to haul Toulouse back into the tie, but with the goal gaping, the Chilean inexplicably fired his shot straight at Alexander-Arnold, who duly cleared off the line.
Núñez made sure that he was credited with the miss of the game, however, wowing Anfield with a mesmerising run and rounding the goalkeeper before clattering the woodwork from close range.
Thankfully for the Reds, Ryan Gravenberch was there to pick up the pieces and crown his outstanding performance with a well-merited goal, and substitute Mohamed Salah rifled in off the crossbar with virtually the final kick of the game to complete the scoring.
With three wins from three in Group E, Liverpool are firmly on course to make the knockout stages of a European competition for the seventh season running.
Toulouse stay second - albeit five points behind the Reds - but they will take another pop at Klopp in next month’s reverse fixture.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool)
