Liverpool 4, Portsmouth 1: Little Prince Alberto Aquilani seals regal Reds performance

And why his manager believes he's capable of belatedly filling the void created by Xabi Alonso's departure last summer.

Aquilani grabbed his chance to shine as he capped his most impressive display for the club with his first goal.

When he netted in front of the Kop before the break Liverpool had struck three times in the space of six devastating first-half minutes.

Fernando Torres started and finished the rout to take his tally for the season to 15 and Ryan Babel was also on target prior to Nadir Belhadj's late consolation.

After a nightmare week in which embarrassment at Wigan was followed by another dose of misery in Lille, how grateful Liverpool's players must have been to see the bright lights of Anfield last night.

For all their problems this season it's been the home form of Benitez's men which has kept them in contention in the race for Champions League qualification.

An emphatic seventh successive home league win at the expense of the bottom club halted the latest in a long line of mini-crises to dog the club and lifted them to within a point of fourth-placed Tottenham.

It also avenged their nightmare defeat at the hands of Avram Grant's doomed side back in December and ended Liverpool's Monday night hoodoo during Benitez's six-year rein.

This was a performance full of the kind of attacking intent and purpose so lacking in recent months.

Not since Hull were hit for six back in September had Benitez's side struck more than two goals in a league game.

They settled for four but could easily have doubled that.

In truth Portsmouth were the perfect guests. This was a walk in the park against a club who only recently avoided going out of business and are doomed to relegation from the top flight.

For all their admirable spirit and belief in the face of adversity the FA Cup semi-finalists have had more owners than league victories this season and were there for the taking.

But the punishment still had to be dished out and a crushing victory was the perfect confidence boost for Liverpool at the start of a pivotal week in the club's campaign.

Benitez made two changes from the side beaten 1-0 in Lille with Aquilani and Maxi Rodriguez returning to the starting line up in place of Lucas and Dirk Kuyt.

The inclusion of Aquilani was a statement of intent by Benitez who was clearly desperate to boost his side's creativity after they had fired blanks in their previous two games.

It was only his fifth league start and the Italian was clearly in the mood to impress.

Aquilani's neat, incisive passing and clever movement added another dimension to Liverpool's attacking play and helped the hosts carve Portsmouth open.

Inside three minutes Torres had pleas for a penalty waved away when his goal-bound shot struck Ricardo Rocha's arm.

They continued to press and a sweet exchange between Aquilani, Torres and Rodriguez teed up Steven Gerrard, who blazed over from the edge of the box. It was one-way traffic and the only surprise was that Liverpool had to wait until the 26th minute for the breakthrough.

Gerrard typified the hunger of the hosts as he charged down Jamie Ashdown's clearance. The ball dropped kindly to Rodriguez who squared for Torres to slot home.

Relief engulfed Anfield and that swiftly turned to jubilation as the points were ruthlessly wrapped up.

Just two minutes later Glen Johnson's deep cross picked out Torres and the Spaniard unselfishly laid it off to Babel. The Dutchman took a touch to steady himself and then toe poked into the far corner.

The most significant strike of the lot came in the 32nd minute. Torres' delightful back heel was touched by Gerrard into the path of Aquilani who swept his shot inside Ashdown's near post.

It was not only Aquilani's first goal during a frustrating first season on Merseyside but also the first time in 23 attempts that Liverpool had netted three times in a Premier League match.

A shell-shocked Portsmouth side could do nothing to halt the onslaught and their plight could have deepened before the interval as Torres struck the post and Gerrard slotted wide with the net gaping.

The only danger to Pepe Reina's goal had come from Frenchman Frederic Piquionne but from two brief sights of goal he failed to hit the target.

Portsmouth's late arrival for the second half triggered speculation they may have jumped back on the bus to the South Coast.

They did belatedly return to face the music and had to contend with more of the same from a rampant home side.

Gerrard was denied by a fine save from Ashdown and then the overworked keeper, who was standing in for the injured David James, tipped Babel's strike on to the bar.

When Portsmouth did briefly get out of their own half they found Reina in top form as he thwarted skipper Michael Brown with a brilliant finger-tip save.

Liverpool were soon back in the ascendancy and Rodriguez went close before Piquionne almost headed into his own net.

Avram Grant's side got the sympathy vote from referee Stuart Attwell who failed to award a stonewall penalty midway through the half after Belhadj clattered Johnson in the box.

Johnson and Gerrard made way for Martin Kelly and Yossi Benayoun and 13 minutes from time the pressure finally told.

Aquilani's through ball set Torres clear and the striker cut inside Rocha before firing past Ashdown.

With two minutes to go Portsmouth grabbed a goal they barely deserved as Belhadj turned the ball past Reina from close range.

In Lille and Manchester United much tougher tests lie ahead but this was the perfect start to a massive week.