That win was for Shanks ! Liverpool 1 Man Utd 0

On a special afternoon at Anfield, as we remembered the legendary Bill Shankly the day before what would have been his 100th birthday (which was celebrated with a deserved minutes applause by the Kop), it took us just four minutes for our clinical striker Sturridge (celebrating his 24th birthday) to mark the occasion in style with a deft header.

In a typically fiery affair between two fierce rivals, United put us under pressure for long periods in the second half but could find no way past Simon Mignolet as David Moyes slipped to his first defeat since replacing Sir Alex Ferguson.

Liverpool's match-winner against Stoke and Aston Villa on our perfect opening to the season, Sturridge bagged another as we made a lightning start going for Utd's jugular.

The former Chelsea man had already given warning of his threat when he seized on the loose ball after the tireless Jordan Henderson had harassed Ashley Young into a mistake. Rio Ferdinand turned away his shot on that occasion.

But when Daniel Agger leapt highest at the corner, Sturridge was afforded far too much room inside the six-yard area to smartly head the ball home.

It was the kind of start Moyes must have dreaded, raising the decibel level of the Kop which was already at a pretty raucous occasion.

Robin van Persie was not far away with an overhead kick after Patrice Evra had knocked down a Ryan Giggs free-kick, but largely it was an opening period of unremitting frustration for the visitors.

Watching England manager Roy Hodgson, who knew prior to kick-off he would be without Wayne Rooney due to a head injury in training for the vital World Cup qualifiers with Moldova and Ukraine, then saw Phil Jones limp off after the defender landed awkwardly jumping for a routine header.

Van Persie was one of three United players cautioned and the half ended with an angry exchange of words between Steven Gerrard and Robin van Persie, whose focus appeared to have slipped somewhat after an earlier tangle with Agger.

It was not that we were creating lots of opportunities, David de Gea saved a decent curling free-kick from Gerrard after Glen Johnson's powerful burst had been halted unfairly and the quiet Philippe Coutinho curled a poor free-kick over the crossbar, but Liverpool's main advantage came through their control of the game, with Lucas outstanding alongside his captain in that crucial central midfield area.

United did return in the second half with a bit more purpose. Michael Carrick started to find his passing range, which allowed Young, and then his replacement Nani to threaten from wide positions.

Still, United's increased attacking threat came at the exposure of their defence, and the risk of a killer second.

Nemanja Vidic almost gifted it to Liverpool with an underhit back-pass that had De Gea rushing to clear as Johnson closed in.

Nani forced Mignolet into his best save of the match 15 minutes from time when he pushed away a thunderous drive, just before Johnson became the latest member of Hodgson's squad to depart, limping pretty badly after a crunching 50-50 clash with Patrice Evra.

Van Persie could not make the most of a late opportunity provided by Javier Hernandez when he surprisingly shot wide on his right foot when through on goal, and although five additional minutes of injury time brought a few nerves, in the end it us on the counter attack who came closest to scoring, De Gea brilliantly turning over Raheem Sterling's powerful drive.

Man of the Match - Martin Skrtel - Not played in the first team since Jan 2013 and showed why he is a top defender when his head is right. With Toure out injured, we are on the verge of securing two central defenders Tiago Ilori and Mamadou Sakho to increase the strength in depth of the team and it was especially pleasing that Skrtel showed today that he still has something to offer the team.

Positives
Shankly would have been proud of the work rate and fight of our boys to go into an international break as the top side that currently and proudly sits top of the league.

Another clean sheet for Mignolet against a top side will only breed further confidence for the keeper and another goal for the goal machine Sturridge, the continued improvement of Henderson who is a massive asset to us and long may that continue as well.

We have acquired a good habit of winning games either pretty or ugly, to get to where we want to get we need to win games when we are playing poorly and so far we have played well in the first half of all our games but poorly in the second half - if the results continue despite the second half form we are on track to have a very good season.

Negatives
Our second half form in games needs to improve to take the pressure off our defence.

The weak displays so far at set pieces - we look as though we are always going to struggle to clear the ball.

The form of Coutinho in the big games has been disappointing and to be a top player he needs to impose himself better - I feel that he needs to bulk up to gain more upper body strength so that he will be harder to shrug off the ball.

LIVERPOOL: Mignolet 7; Johnson 7 (Wisdom 78, 5), Agger 7, Skrtel 8, Enrique 6; Henderson 7, Lucas 6, Gerrard 7; Aspas 6 (Sterling 60, 6), Sturridge 7, Coutinho 5 (Alberto 84). 

Subs not used: Jones, Ibe, Kelly, Flanagan.

Scorer: Sturridge 4 mins

Booked: Aspas

MAN UNITED: De Gea 6; Jones 5 (Valencia 37, 6), Ferdinand 7, Vidic 6, Evra 6; Carrick 5, Cleverley 7; Young 5 (Nani 62, 6), Welbeck 6, Giggs 6 (Hernandez 75); Van Persie 5. 

Subs not used: Anderson, Smalling, Lindegaard, Buttner.

Booked: Cleverley, Van Persie, Carrick, Young

Managers:

Brendan Rodgers 7

David Moyes 5

Referee: Andre Marriner 7

Attendance: 44,411