This article is part of Football FanCast's Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba's haircuts to League Two relegation battles...

It wasn't too much of a surprise to see Marco Silva sacked as Everton manager on Thursday.

The Toffees had been on an awful run, winning just two Premier League matches in their last 11 in the competition. That saw them drop to 18th in the table and into the relegation zone.

Of course, his departure came after a 5-2 loss against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night. The Goodison Park outfit were put to the sword by Jurgen Klopp's men and were 4-1 down before half-time. Even though Richarlison pulled one back just before the interval, they never looked like getting anything from their city rivals.

Interestingly, Silva is just the latest manager to be relieved of his duties after a poor defeat against Liverpool. This is the fifth boss to lose his job after a defeat against Klopp's Reds. In 2016, Francesco Guidolin was let go from Swansea after losing 2-1. Next up was West Ham boss Slaven Bilic, who left the London Stadium after a 4-1 hammering.

Quick in his footsteps was Slavisa Jokanovic, who found himself no longer in a job at Fulham after losing 2-0 thanks to goals from Xherdan Shaqiri and Mohamed Salah. And then, Jose Mourinho was out of the door at Manchester United after a 3-1 loss away from home, which is perhaps the sacking that will have brought the most glee to the faces of the Liverpool supporters.

Ironically, the last Liverpool manager to be relieved of his duties was Brendan Rodgers in 2015, which came after a 0-0 draw against, you guessed it, Everton. That led to Klopp taking the vacancy at Anfield, and the former Borussia Dortmund boss has taken them to the next level, winning one Champions League and putting the Reds in a position to fight for the league title on a regular basis.

Much harder than you'd think... Can you name Liverpool's top scorers for each of these 25 seasons?

It is unlikely that the Toffees will be able to produce that kind of form under a new boss, but Silva's sacking could be the catalyst they need to climb back up the table and challenge for the European places, just like Farhad Moshiri wants. Give it a year or two, and the Everton fans could be thanking Liverpool for that heavy defeat. It's funny how football works sometimes.

Meanwhile, this is why Virgil van Dijk missed out on the Ballon d'Or.