ANFIELD was designed to devour opposition like this.

And as Liverpool’s momentum towards the end of the season builds, their hunger to secure European football for the next campaign grows stronger by the minute.

Such was the suffocating supremacy of the home team on Saturday that Birmingham City were always going to crumble as they did.

There were chants from the stands for a former manger, showing adoration still swirls around the ground for Gerard Houllier, but the Kop is falling in love all over again with someone else.

Kenny Dalglish has been credited with stirring a spirit sorely missing under previous manager Roy Hodgson and in the final days of the Rafael Benitez reign. But the tangible results are far more impressive as Liverpool continue to amass a Barclays Premier League points total since January which can only be bettered by Manchester United and Chelsea.

Yet perhaps the most telling statistic is the one which emerged from the uplifting atmosphere at the weekend in that the club’s two previous managers failed to beat the same Midlands side in the league, with seven draws coming since 2004.

Dalglish’s Liverpool broke that duck in vibrant fashion and where once the team toiled and were unable to exert total dominance over weaker sides – or simply paid them far too much respect – they now appear to be rediscovering the knack of making the Anfield turf like quicksand to visiting teams.

Liverpool had waited over a year-and-a-half for such a margin of victory to be repeated but plundering five goals was fair reward for their stranglehold on this game.