'Suffocated' - Rob Edwards makes stunning Anfield claim that Liverpool fans will love

Rob Edwards admitted that Luton Town felt the full power of Anfield in their loss against Liverpool.

The Reds restored their four-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a 4-1 win over the relegation-threatened Hatters. Jurgen Klopp's side were without 11 players, including key men Mo Salah, Darwin Nunez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szobozlai.

It appeared that an upset could be on the cards as Chiedozie Ogbene opened the scoring for Luton in the 12th minute while Liverpool spurned a raft of chances in the first half.

But the Reds improved markedly after the interval as two goals in three minutes from Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo put the home side ahead. Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott then made the win more emphatic.

Edwards felt that Luton, who stay in 18th spot, played well in the first half but saw just how good Liverpool are in the second period - and how much of a part the crowd can play.

The Luton manager said: "We had a really good first-half performance. Second half, we just saw Anfield, we saw Liverpool - that full-throttle football, their counter-pressing suffocated us, their fans were amazing - it was difficult for the players to really concentrate and play like we had done in the first half.

"It will be great learning for us to see what the best looks like. I know they had some players missing but their performance in the second half was like they had their best team out there anyway, the intensity they played at, the speed they played at. We played a little bit into their hands in the second half, we made some mistakes but we will dust ourselves down and hopefully get better for it.

"Lots to like. I thought we were very good and they were better. We really grew into it and looked good, got the goal and they're going to start coming after us and they did. We were still stepping forward and able to take the ball. Second half, we had to make a change and played into their hands a little bit.

"We were a little bit too short and didn't use the space in behind us and they suffocated us a little bit. I have to credit the lads, they kept going, tried to do the right things we saw that are going to help us long-term. We were still pushing at the end, we didn't give up, didn't sit back and accept defeat and had one or two half-moments. But we came up against the better team, incredible atmosphere and that second half, we experienced what elite looks like."