The two German coaches have been friends for many years and played together at Mainz, before working together at Borussia Dortmund. The Reds emerged victorious in this clash thanks to second half goals from Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Firmino and Georginio Wijnaldum, after Mohamed Salah missed a first half penalty.
A pattern developed in the early stages of the game which would carry on for the majority of the first half. Liverpool were dominating possession but struggled to break down a disciplined Huddersfield defence, and they created few clear-cut opportunities.
The first shot on target of the match did fall to the hosts after 27 minutes. Mohamed Salah played a one-two with Roberto Firmino and came in from the right, before releasing a shot from 15 yards out, but his effort was straight at Jonas Lossl in the Huddersfield goal.
Minutes later James Milner found some space inside the box after bringing down a ball over the top by Jordan Henderson, and the midfielder tried curling pat Lossl, but the goalkeeper got down to make the save.
The Reds were then gifted the perfect opportunity to break the deadlock minutes before the break, when Tommy Smith was penalised for pulling Firmino’s shirt inside the box and the referee pointed to the spot.
Salah stepped up to take but was denied by Lossl, who made a good save low to his left, and Henderson could only hit the post with the rebound.
The teams went in level at half-time, as David Wagner’s side managed to frustrate the hosts with their water-tight defence, apart from the one lapse with the penalty, which they got away with.
However, the second half was a different story entirely, as Liverpool made their dominance count on the scoresheet.
With just five minutes gone in the second half, Jurgen Klopp’s side took the lead.
Tommy Smith headed a ball from Moreno straight into the path of Sturridge, and the England striker lifted the ball over the onrushing Lossl to make it 1-0 and score his 100th club career goal.
After the opener, Liverpool were buoyant and were pushing for the second straight away.
After 57 minutes, Firmino squared the ball for Sturridge inside the box, and only a superb block from Mathias Joergensen stopped Sturridge from tapping in for his second of the game.
However, Joergensen’s block came to matter very little as Liverpool soon had their second from the resulting corner. Firmino headed down past Lossl at the near post from James Milner’s corner to double the home side’s lead.
It continued to be one-way traffic as David Wagner’s side struggled to get a foothold in the game. Salah swivelled on the edge of the box after receiving the ball from Firmino, and he tried to curl into the corner, but Lossl got down well to make the save.
Huddersfield’s only shot of the game, on or off target, came from a Thomas Ince free-kick after 72 minutes. Moreno brought down Steve Mounie in a dangerous area and Ince’s free-kick went over the wall but over the bar as well, to leave Mignolet untroubled.
Wijnaldum put the cherry on the cake for Liverpool to get their third goal after 75 minutes, and it was the pick of the bunch. A well worked move ended with Salah finding Wijnaldum inside the box, and the Dutchman took it past a defender before firing into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.
The home side had a couple of half chances to increase their lead in the final stages, but Lossl saved from Dominic Solanke and Joel Matip couldn’t keep his header down from another Milner corner.
Liverpool recovered very well from a frustrating first half and Klopp will be pleased with the clean sheet after the heavy criticism his side has come under after recent defensive frailties.
Huddersfield defended well in the first 45, but offered very little throughout, and Wagner will be hoping they produce more performances like the one last week against Manchester United, rather than the one today at Anfield.