AFICIONADOS of early Superman comics will recall the existence of Bizzaro World, a planet on which everything expected on Earth was reversed: thus beauty was reviled while ugliness was revered; crime was good while honesty was bad etc.

This Liverpool side would have fitted right in: incompetent or wasteful at home, combative and resourceful away.

While precious points have been frittered away at Anfield, we’ve now clocked up five successive away wins in League and League Cup; while we’ve proved witless against Sunderland and Swansea, and profligate against Norwich and United, we’ve won at Arsenal and Chelsea for the first time since 1973/74.

This constitutes a reversal of fortune that would stretch the imagination of the most ardent comic-book geek.

The easy explanation for this would be that we lack the creative flair to break down sides which come to Anfield intent on barricading the goal with 11 men behind the ball and lumping the ball into the stands anytime it comes within 30 yards of their penalty area.

Yet can you remember any of the aforementioned teams playing like that? Likewise, our strong away form might typically be put down to a classic counter-attacking style, soaking up the pressure and then using quicksilver forwards to catch opponents on the break.

There’s maybe a bit more truth in this one, but we’ve had plenty of possession in most of these games and been deserved winners, admittedly with the help of a sending-off or two.