It is a mark of how far they have come under Rafa Benitez's inspired management that West Brom were dispatched with the ruthless efficiency that is becoming his side's trademark.
Always in control the Reds secured their tenth successive league win without ever hitting top gear. It is the kind of consistency The Kop could only have dreamed of at the start of what looked like being another roller-coaster year at Anfield.
In truth Bryan Robson's dour and defensive approach to the game meant Albion never looked like getting anything but a lucky point. But the ability to claim maximum points against determined strugglers has been something the Reds have found hard to do under a host of previous bosses.
Something very special is happening on Merseyside an, for the first time in a long period, the Reds are entering the new year flying high rather than desperately grappling to get back to where they once belonged.
In previous years the unstoppable ten-game rampage would have been tantamount to title form. But even if Benitez's boys win their two games in hand to get within nine points of Chelsea the chances of Mourinho's men losing three times before May are about as slim as Lester Piggott making a comeback at next year's Grand National. It won't happen.
But Stevie Gerrard and co gave a timely reminder to the Blues that they are waiting in the wings with a comprehensive display from the start. From minute one they dominated and their 16 shots on target, to West Brom's one, accurately told the tale of an afternoon of relentless Liverpool pressure and an inspired goalkeeping display by Polish stopper Tomasz Kuszczak.
Quarter-of-an-hour of incessant Reds possession preceded their first strike at goal. A revitalised Harry Kewell tested Kuszczak twice in as many minutes with two scorching left-footed drives. The first was a rasping 25-yard volley that the Baggies keeper just managed to palm over the top while the second was a close-range blast that was saved superbly by the inspired Pole.
John Arne Riise had Kuszczak in over-drive again five minutes later. Slack West Brom defending found the left-back free on the edge of the box from a corner and his side-footed effort clipped the inside of the post before Kewell was denied again on the rebound.
And after a brief lull Gerrard stung Kuszczak's hands with a vicious volley after a neat lay-off from Djibril Cisse.
The tactical mind of Benitez was at work at half-time - moving Cisse to the right wing to test West Brom out wide and pushing Luis Garcia in behind Peter Crouch.
It paid dividends within five minutes. After a cluttered build-up the ball finally landed at Kewell's feet and the Aussie winger whipped in the perfect cross for Crouch to add to his recent scoring tally. The in-form striker towered above his marker to place a downward header past the unlucky Kuszczak.
Liverpool continued to test Kuszczak with a string of efforts. The Baggies keeper held two thundering drives from Gerrard and substitute Florent Sinama Pongolle. He denied Riise's swerving free-kick with a stunningly agile dive and seemed unbeatable in what Benitez would later describe as "the game of his life".
Gerrard almost put the icing on a very satisfying Christmas cake for Liverpool in injury-time but his jinking run and right-footed blast flew just the wrong side of Kuszczak's post.
The win secured maximum points over the Christmas period for the Reds and Benitez's men will go to Bolton on Monday in the hope of further cementing their reputation as one of the league's premier performers and not the perennial under-achievers of the past.