Women's Super League (WSL) champions Arsenal were beaten 4-0 by Liverpool in the opening match of their title defence at Emirates Stadium. Amanda Da Costa scored twice before Natasha Dowie and Louise Fors added further goals for the dominant Reds.

Victory lifted Liverpool to the top of the table while the Gunners are joint bottom with Doncaster Belles.

"I was delighted with the result, although it could have been an 8-4 win for us because both sides created lots of chances, said Liverpool boss Matt Beard.

"We were well prepared for the game, though, after learning a lot from our recent FA Cup defeat by Arsenal.

"We've worked in training on the things we got wrong that night and I was convinced when we went into this game that we were going to win.

"I've got a great group here, a good combination of English and foreign girls with a fantastic mentality and they're all winners.

"We'll get better and better, but we're not going to get carried away after this result and at the moment a top-half of the table finish is still the aim."