Bolton boss Gary Megson saw, in his words, his team “cut apart like a knife through butter”.
Bolton had won three of their previous five league games, but were never in with a shout at Anfield.
Megson said: “That was a very disappointing result. We had set out to keep things tight early on, and hoped to catch them on the break.
“But we only troubled them in the opening few minutes. I was concerned by the manner of the goals we conceded.
“One came straight from one of our own corners, it went from their ’keeper to the back of our net in about six seconds. To concede a goal like that is not acceptable at this level.
“We set up to flood midfield with players, but changed that system when it clearly wasn’t working.
“But we did not want to play 4-4-2 at Anfield, because Liverpool go through you like a knife through butter when you do that.
“And that is what happened a few times in the second half when we did try to push more men forward.”
