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Daniel Sturridge has scored five goals this season for Liverpool

Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring for Liverpool as the Reds thrashed bottom club Aston Villa to move up to eighth in the Premier League.

Sturridge, making his first league start since October, headed home before James Milner's free-kick crept in after being missed by keeper Mark Bunn.

Emre Can rifled in a shot, Divock Origi slotted home and Nathaniel Clyne bundled in to add to the Reds' lead.

Kolo Toure headed in a sixth as Villa were punished for a poor performance.

Villa 'humiliated' by Liverpool - Garde

The home side's disgruntled fans started streaming out of Villa Park following Liverpool's fifth after 65 minutes and there were plenty of empty seats at the final whistle.

It is the first time Villa have conceded six at home in a league game since October 1983 and leaves the Midlands side eight points from safety with 12 games left.

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Sturridge sends out message

Sturridge was making his first league start since manager Jurgen Klopp took over in October in only his eighth appearance of an injury-hit campaign.

He was not mentioned by Roy Hodgson when the England manager was speaking about his striking options on Match of the Day on Saturday.

Sturridge did not take long to remind people of his qualities as he nodded in for his fifth goal of the season, while he also had an effort well saved by keeper Bunn following a good move.

The 26-year-old certainly gave Liverpool a greater cutting edge in attack and Klopp had the luxury of taking him off after 62 minutes as he eased him back with the League Cup final against Manchester City on 28 February in mind.

"It was great to be back but it was more important that the team won," said Sturridge. "It was great to get so many goals."

Villa's heatmap on the left compared to Liverpool's heatmap on the right shows the Reds worked harder as they covered 110km, while the home side covered 99km

Aston Villa look Championship-bound

Villa went into the game in better form than Liverpool, with eight points from their last six league outings compared to five for the Reds.

However, any hope it was the start of some kind of great escape quickly dissolved.

Villa had a doomed look about them as the game became a damage limitation exercise with their crowd booing their side off at the break and the final whistle.

Their performance was littered with poor defending, a lack of discipline and individual mistakes, with Remi Garde's team letting in four goals in 13 second-half minutes.

A consolation goal even deserted Villa when Scott Sinclair's late curler hit the woodwork in their heaviest defeat of the season.

Liverpool looking strong

Liverpool not only had the boost of having Sturridge back but the return of Philippe Coutinho was also an important factor.

The Brazilian playmaker has also returned from injury this week and provided two assists as he gave the visitors a constant menace in attack.

Liverpool had a look of strength with Sturridge, Coutinho and Roberto Firmino in attack and Jordan Henderson, Can and Milner in midfield.

"It makes a difference having both Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge are on the pitch," said Klopp. "You can only play them when they are fit and available."

Man of the match - Philippe Coutinho

Coutinho has a big impact on Liverpool's threat in attack and set up two of Liverpool's six goals

The stats you need to know

Daniel Sturridge has the best minutes per goal ratio of any Liverpool player in Premier League history (118 mins per goal).

James Milner has now scored in 40 different Premier League matches and never lost - only Darius Vassell (46 games) has a superior record to this in the competition.

Divock Origi scored just 37 seconds after coming on as a substitute in this match - the fastest goal by a substitute in the Premier League in 2015-16.

This was the first time that Liverpool have had six different scorers in a single Premier League match.

This was the eighth 6-0 away win in Premier League history - four of those have been wins for Liverpool.

'Good for the soul'

Today is a day for the soul - Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: "We are not in the most easy moment at Liverpool. That is not pessimistic, that is the truth.

"It is hard work and you need to be ready for it. We want to change things with work and this was good for the soul. We have needed 26 games to get a positive goal difference."

What next?

Liverpool are next in action when they resume their Europa League campaign with a trip to Augsburg on Thursday, 18 February for the first leg of their last-32 tie. Aston Villa play again on Saturday, 27 February when they visit Stoke.