Arne Slot’s first visit to Manchester United as Liverpool head coach was billed as his most serious examination since succeeding Jurgen Klopp – but he had every answer to pass the test in style.

The Dutchman has made the daunting task of taking over from such an iconic figure as Klopp look easy. His calm, measured approach and clear authority swiftly settling any nerves among supporters that he might have been asked to replace the irreplaceable.

Slot has enjoyed the perfect Premier League start with victories at Ipswich Town and home to Brentford, but the assignment at Old Trafford was always going to carry the most weight and significance in the minds of Liverpool fans and the outside world.

Their 3-0 win was masterly, outclassing United to leave the so-called “Theatre of Dreams” an empire of empty seats long before the final whistle, a result and performance perfectly designed to ensure Slot instantly wins the hearts of his new supporters.

Three wins without conceding a goal does that for any new head coach.

And it looked and sounded exactly like that after the final whistle as Slot’s name rang around the small corner of Old Trafford inhabited by the Liverpool fans, with the 45-year-old’s understated but appreciative response an insight into his character and style.

Slot was concentrating so fiercely during the game that he did not respond to chants from Liverpool’s fans and, at the end, there was none of Klopp’s fist-pumping histrionics that would have followed such a result. He simply delivered a wave, a clenched fist and then returned applause before marching towards the Stretford End in business-like fashion.

It is very early days but so far Liverpool’s transition from Klopp to Slot has been seamless, the Dutchman’s task made so much easier by the groundwork of his great predecessor, allied to the quality of the squad bequeathed to him.

This has allowed Slot and Liverpool to make light of a perceived lack of transfer activity with Italy forward Federico Chiesa, a £10m buy from Juventus and the only summer signing who can figure, watching his new Liverpool team-mates take Manchester United to the cleaners from Old Trafford’s directors’ box.

Liverpool’s existing quality meant there was no desperate requirement to go into the markets unless a serious upgrade came in and, as usual, the club is prepared to play a waiting game to land top targets, something Slot is fully on board with.

Slot is the first Liverpool manager to win his first game against United since Bob Paisley in November 1975 and the second to do so away from home after George Kay in November 1936.

He is also only the third manager to win each of his first three Premier League games without conceding a goal after Jose Mourinho at Chelsea in 2004 and Sven-Goran Eriksson at Manchester City three years later.