Top News: Big match verdict: Liverpool ARE title contenders after Arsenal are humiliated ...

Andy Dunn on watching Brendan Rodgers' men turn three into four at the top of the Premier League table by scoring five against the then-leaders

Andrew Powell

Special ones: Liverpool's storming win proved Jose Mourinho right... yet again

That know-all Jose Mourinho called it right at Christmas - never mind this top four nonsense, Liverpool CAN win the title.

Brendan Rodgers will still explain why his Reds cannot do it, phone-in punters will still hold up Hull away as evidence against the idea and media-trained players will bang on about the next game mattering most.

And, of course, every day brings reminders of the power and wealth of Manchester City and Chelsea.

But Liverpool did not just take a wrecking-ball to Arsenal here, they dismantled the theory that the Premier League ribbons are out of reach - just as Mourinho insisted they would do back in December.

"Quality, plus ambition, plus this advantage..."

They were among the factors, said Jose, that would make Liverpool contenders.

Quality - t's one of those words Brendan Rodgers would caress if he could. And here on Saturday, it seeped through to Anfield's foundations.

Philippe Coutinho's passing was as visionary as it was varied, weighted to the last milligram.

Luis Suarez twisted Arsenal blood with impudent genius that bordered on the vindictive. Daniel Sturridge puts the flair into the clinical.

Ambition - Brendan quite likes that one too - but preferably when referencing the long-term. But here it was in the here and now.

Ambition screamed from every one of Jordan Henderson's surges.

It shouted from Raheem Sterling's carefree, corkscrewing runs, it spoke authoritatively from Steven Gerrard's imposing efficiency.

This advantage - Mourinho was referring to the fact that Liverpool has no European distraction this season.

This is a bit of a red herring (not being in Europe has very rarely been a decisive domestic advantage) but there is little doubt Liverpool swarmed over the opposition like the healthy against the infirm.

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The squad depth might be suspect - as Rodgers was keen to reiterate post-match - but if the first-choice hub of 14 or 15 players can be kept relatively injury-free, they will not - energy-wise - compare unfavourably with the top three as the season arches around its final bend.

Ahead of that fortunate Chelsea victory at Stamford Bridge, Mourinho went on to give another reason - "...because Brendan is good."

And maybe, even to the gravest sceptic, this landmark performance was final proof that he actually is.

The caveat that Arsenal were eye-wateringly bad must be stressed. Looking for positives, you could highlight the way Arsenal reacted to their hiding at the Etihad but this felt different.

This thrashing sounded like a starting pistol for the annual dash to relative disaster.

Take nothing away from Liverpool, though. Rodgers sent them out with a clarity of purpose and with startling fluidity.

Matching - or rather mismatching - Suarez wide with Nacho Monreal was a masterstroke, the swiftness of Sturridge had Arsenal's central defensive pairing sweating from the off and Gerrard revelled in his string-pulling brief behind Coutinho and Henderson.

More importantly, this looks like a team that BELIEVES in its manager.

Anfield finally feels like a stadium that BELIEVES in its manager.

Manchester City and Chelsea have yet to visit and the next four league opponents (home and away) are Fulham, Swansea, Southampton and Sunderland.

So don't believe Brendan when it comes to how many teams can win the title.

Because on a day his team hit five, three became four. Does this win make Liverpool title contenders?

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