SO, the fact is clear. Any doubts that Liverpool possess the stomach for a title fight have now been comprehensively banished.

Another significant weekend in the race for the championship ended with Rafael Benitez’s side posting an ominous statement of intent.

With leaders Manchester United and second-placed Chelsea having lost 24 hours earlier, opportunity once again knocked for Liverpool to seize on the shortcomings of their nearest rivals.

The Anfield outfit have made a worrying habit of spurning such openings, too often hampered by the weight of expectation.

Not this time. A five-goal rout of Aston Villa closed the gap on United to a single point and sent a thunderous message out to Old Trafford and beyond; the momentum, such a precious commodity at this stage of the season, is now firmly with Liverpool.

This is a rejuvenated side, bursting with confidence and belief following successive humiliations of Real Madrid and United. The hunger has returned throughout the team, the scent of silverware in their nostrils.

None more so than Steven Gerrard, whose first Premier League hat-trick was the highlight of another ruthless Liverpool performance that ensured their biggest home triumph in 18 months. Three up by the interval, Benitez’s chief post-match complaint was that his team didn’t win by more.

Gerrard, again roaming with licence to thrill, was irresistible, his treble taking his tally to a career-best 13 for the league season, 21 in all competitions.

The skipper held his nerve to convert twice from the spot and has now converted 13 of his last 14 penalties, the solitary failure coming in Marseille when he in any case netted the rebound.

But this, as at Old Trafford, was a collective effort. And with United showing evidence of cracking up, such togetherness could prove crucial in the final two months of the campaign.

In keeping his 100th clean sheet on his 197th appearance, Pepe Reina surpassed Ray Clemence’s previous club best mark for a century of shut-outs by three games.

Reina’s aptitude ensured Villa’s one purple patch midway through the first half yielded no reward, the Spaniard making two fine saves from John Carew before his alert long punt created the second for Albert Riera.

Riera has been wildly inconsistent in recent weeks, but here the Spanish winger was inspired, bewildering the hapless Nigel Reo-Coker, finishing brilliantly for his goal and later winning a penalty.

Dirk Kuyt, who opened the scoring, was also better than for some time while returning duo Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa posted sterling shifts, the latter impressive when augmenting the attack.