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The Following Preview Has Been Approved For All Audiences: Wigan 0 - Liverpool 4

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Liverpool thrash Wigan to open up the closing kick.

Alex Livesey

Well, even if it amounts to only a trailer, if Liverpool can maintain this sort of form through the rest of the season, it's the kind of preview that would definitely make you see the movie when it comes out next season.

When Liverpool are ruthless early, they become so fun. But then again, so does any team. It's just a shame that this team's psyche can be so easily wobbled when it doesn't have an early goal to stabilize. Maybe it's going to take a streak of scoring early to convince the team that they don't have to to win a match easily. But whatever, they did today and once they did you kind of felt it was already over.

Boy this Phillipe Coutinho looks pretty tasty, eh? While it's easy to get carried away over two starts, and against one team that clearly wasn't interested in Swansea and another that is a defensive clown college like Wigan, the signs are there. He absolutely clowned Emerson Boyce to open up space for an inch-perfect cross to give Downing a header he couldn't miss -- and that's saying something. Though the marking made it easier.There was a beautiful interchange with both Gerrard and Suarez to set up the second. The kind of imagination and vision, well... the Luis Garcia songs in the 2nd half highlight how long it's been. Not that that was the reason for the songs. What's really exciting about Coutinho is he already demonstrates the type of vision and touch that can squeeze through the tight spaces Liverpool will face when confronted by packed defenses on their own box. As I've said, Liverpool's problems at times has been that they just can't get through there and need a moment of true genius or touch to do so. They have another player who looks capable of doing that now.

Hey, it might not mean much. But then again, if Arsenal are toppled at White Hart Lane tomorrow and the gap is only five points? That doesn't sound impossible. You never know.

Bullets

-Pepe Reina is awesome when you're up multiple goals. It seems his jitters only come with slim leads or tied. But today you saw him at the height of his powers, and all but one world class save came with Liverpool already up 2-0. Maybe he just needs that to relax?

-Surprised that Henderson didn't get the start, but Joe Allen had one of his better matches and was really active. Maybe the fatigue from the early season marathon of matches he had has finally worn off.

-There's nothing more to say about Luis Suarez, but it's even better when he doesn't have to create and finish the chances himself. And good lord can he make a keeper look silly.

-Anyone else really hoping for a Bowyer-Dyer Redux with Boyce and McCarthy?

-The Benitez songs were pretty hilarious, and they'll be even funnier when he returns t Anfield with Chelsea and a pack of very angry and bitter traveling support.

-Ok, what were the Luis Garcia songs for?

-Stewart Downing scored with a header. I'm just glad I wrote that sentence once and it wasn't part of a short story or something.

-Whacking a relegation battling side is nice and all, but let's see what it looks like against a team on a flyer like Spurs next week. But I suspect it might still look pretty good. Because I have to say, even in the aggregate defeat to Zenit, and against Swansea and today, some of the football really has been sublime. I can't imagine Liverpool scoring the type of goal that was their second today at any point the last couple years.