EPL saga: Villa humble Liverpool 7-2, United humiliated 6-1 by Spurs

Son Heung-min (R) of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammate Serge Aurier after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in Manchester, UK, October 4, 2020. /VCG

A sensational first-half hat-trick from Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa to a stunning 7-2 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday to end the champions' 100 percent start to the season in extraordinary fashion.

Liverpool started badly at Villa Park as a poor pass from Adrian – deputizing for Alisson in goal for the visitors after the Brazilian picked up a shoulder injury – gifted Watkins the opener in the fourth minute.

If there was an element of good fortunate about Watkins' first goal in a Villa shirt, his second was all his own fine work as he cut inside before firing into the top corner to stun the champions and make it 2-0 in the 22nd minute.

A dejected Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool during the Premier League match against Aston Villa in Birmingham, UK, October 4, 2020. /VCG

Mohamed Salah's fine left-foot finish seemed to get Liverpool back in the game in the 33rd minute, but John McGinn's deflected strike two minutes later restored Villa's two-goal advantage.

Watkins completed his hat-trick inside 39 minutes, with former Everton midfielder Ross Barkley – making his debut after joining Villa on loan – making it five, 10 minutes into the second half.

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins (R) celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal of the game to complete his hat-trick during the Premier League match against Liverpool in Birmingham, UK, October 4, 2020. /VCG

Salah did give Liverpool hope on the hour mark, before a late double from Grealish completed a remarkable victory for a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season.

Stunned Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said his side did "all the things you should not do in a football match" as they "lost the plot" to play into Aston Villa's hands.

Meanwhile, a shambolic Manchester United suffered a club record-equaling defeat in the Premier League era as they crashed to a 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (L), manager of Manchester United, and Jose Mourinho, manager of Tottenham Hotspur, during the game at Old Trafford in Manchester, UK, October 4, 2020. /VCG

Son Heung-min and Harry Kane each scored twice for Spurs while United's Anthony Martial was sent off in the 28th minute as Jose Mourinho celebrated a stunning victory on his return to the club which sacked him 22 months ago.

United lost 6-1 to Manchester City in October 2011, their previous worst defeat in the Premier League era.

Also in Premier League, Arsenal scored two goals in four minutes to grab a 2-1 home win over struggling Sheffield United.

Robert Lewandowski (R) of Bayern Munich celebrates with Corentin Tolisso after scoring his team's fourth goal from the penalty spot during the Bundesliga match against Hertha Berlin in Munich, Germany, October 4, 2020. /VCG

Elsewhere in Europe, Philippe Coutinho scored his first league goal since returning to Barcelona to help his side draw 1-1 at home to an excellent Sevilla side in La Liga as the Catalans dropped points for the first time under Ronald Koeman.

Goals from Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema plus some top class saves from Thibaut Courtois gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Levante for a third consecutive La Liga victory.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored four goals including a stoppage-time penalty to give the German champions a 4-3 home win over Hertha Berlin in a pulsating Bundesliga clash.

Meanwhile, Fabian Ruiz will be unable to join up with the Spain squad for their three matches this month after his club Napoli's players were ordered into quarantine following three positive COVID-19 tests.

(With input from agencies)