Liverpool will go into Sunday’s mouth-watering Premier League clash against Manchester City following a commanding 5-1 victory over Sparta Prague in the last 16 first leg of the Europa League.

In the first leg, on a wild evening in the capital of the Czech Republic, the Reds showed their ruthlessness by shutting out the home crowd with three goals before halftime.

Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty kick in the sixth minute gave them the lead after Asger Sorensen had fouled the Argentina World Cup winner.

Darwin Nunez’s stunning dipping finish from beyond the penalty area increased the advantage, marking Liverpool’s 1,000th goal under manager Jurgen Klopp. However, in first-half added time, the Uruguayan forward scored his 16th club goal of the year with a hard effort from the edge of the box, making it 3-0.

Liverpool was grateful for Caoimhin Kelleher, who again demonstrated his value to the squad in the absence of injured first-choice keeper Alisson, despite the comfortable margin.

A series of significant stops were made by Kelleher, one of which came at the 1-0 mark when he deflected Lukas Haraslin’s attempt, causing it to spiral towards the net before Joe Gomez hooked it off the line.

Conor Bradley, a Reds substitute, scored an own goal with his first touch in the 46th minute while attempting to clear the ball for Sparta Prague. However, seven minutes later, Luis Diaz restored his team’s three-goal lead with a deflected finish.

Dominik Szoboszlai, a substitute, scored the fifth goal almost at the very end.

When the clubs play their second leg at Anfield on March 14, Liverpool, who saw Mohamed Salah return from a hamstring injury as a 74th-minute replacement and had a goal disallowed for offside, will be confident of making it to the quarterfinals.

Prior to that, Klopp’s team plays a first-versus-second match at Anfield against the reigning champions, Manchester City.

Whether Ibrahima Konate, who has been playing well lately, will play is still up in the air. Gomez did not appear for the second half, and the France defender was substituted shortly after sustaining an injury during the second half.

Photo by EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK