Well, the Reds showed great attacking form recently, beating Real Madrid in the manner they did in the Champions League and following that up with a superb result at Manchester United.
So with United dropping three more points on Saturday, I expected Liverpool to come flying out of the blocks against Villa - and that's exactly what they did.
Frankly, Villa were caught in the headlights, they were shell-shocked.
The Reds needed to press home their superiority early on which is what they did when Dirk Kuyt scored in the first 10 minutes. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Martin O'Neill's team.
In all fairness to Villa, the two big lads up front John Carew and Emile Heskey, caused Liverpool's backline a few problems in the first half and for a few moments after Kuyt's opener, Villa responded well.
But as they tried to get back into the game, Rafa Benitez's side just went up the gears.
Obviously Steven Gerrard will get the plaudits because he ran the show from the middle and scored three goals, but I was really impressed with the impact of winger Albert Riera.
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The Spaniard gave Liverpool a great option on the left and both he and Kuyt, on the other wing, exploited Villa's apparent tiredness by constantly stretching them out wide.
Regarding Riera, Villa had a midfielder - Nigel Reo-Coker - at right back. He struggled and didn't know whether to go tight on his opponent or drop off.
Reo-Coker often needed the help of team-mate James Milner, which allowed Gerrard to make those runs behind the full-back.
Gerrard, who makes of the most of that free role, was brilliantly supported by Kuyt and Riera, and with Xabi Alonso's great passing and Javier Mascherano's ball-winning, you have a lethal combination in the middle.
Liverpool's performance was similar to the one against Real when they produced wave-after-wave of attacks. It was relentless then and it was relentless on Sunday.
Reina's distribution from the back is a big weapon for Liverpool
Because of the use of wingers, who stuck to their tasks, and Gerrard's free role, the game was open and it was up to Villa to tighten up, which they couldn't. They looked physically a yard behind.
I'd also like to pay tribute to Liverpool's goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
He played his part in the win, by not only setting up the second goal with a big punt upfield, but also by dictating play from the back.
Just when you thought the Liverpool backline would be given a breather he would quickly throw the ball out wide to get the attack started again.
Now to the title race.
United are in a little bit of disarray. They had two really poor results and two poor performances.
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has now also lost three players through suspension.
They are wobbling, but they haven't thrown it away.
You can't write off a team of that stature. They're still the favourites and have a game in hand which is against Wigan - a fixture I expect them to take all three points from.
I still think United will win the league, but it's not a foregone conclusion now.
Lee Dixon was talking to BBC Sport's Saj Chowdhury
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