I heard what Liverpool supporter said when leaving Anfield - he couldn't be more wrong

As Kopites made their way out of the stands, the elation was palpable. The home faithful had witnessed a 14th victory at Anfield this season. 

Certainly, in the Premier League, Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Ipswich Town was the most comfortable for a long while. Not since the 3-0 triumph over Bournemouth in September had the Reds triumphed by three goals in a home league game. 

It should have been their most emphatic top-flight success at Anfield except for Jacob Greaves’ late header. Regardless, Arne Slot’s troops accrued another three points as they barely had to get out of second gear against relegation-threatening Ipswich.

Slot admitted that before the game, winning in the second half of the campaign is more difficult to come by than in the first.

In this case, Liverpool’s head coach couldn’t have been more wrong. The Reds had to scrap to a 2-0 success when they faced Portman Road on the opening day. In the reverse fixture, Slot’s troops took the centre of the ring and pushed their opponent back for 11 rounds, scoring four knockdowns before allowing the scorecard to look a little more kind. 

Each goal was excellent in its own way. They were all well-engineered against an Ipswich outfit who set their stall out to try to frustrate. Dominik Szoboszlai displayed confidence and poise to break the deadlock before Mo Salah was his deadly self. Cody Gakpo’s strike to add a third before half-time before may look simple but his positioning was impeccable. Then the timing of his run to latch on to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the second half was majestic.

All the while, Liverpool barely looked like conceding on the counter-attack. Liam Delap has been extolled throughout the campaign, with pundits mooting the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea should try to sign him in the January transfer window. The striker was dominated by Ibrahima Konate throughout. He scarcely attempted to get into a one-on-one with Virgil van Dijk.

The disappointment was that Arsenal managed to keep the gap between first and second to six points as they earned a 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers. As one Liverpool fan left Anfield, he said: 'At least we're still top of the league'.

With the greatest respect, he couldn’t have been more wrong. If Ipswich had conjured a shock triumph, the Reds would still be at the summit of the table by three points and with a game in hand. Yet after a 16th success in their 22nd match, Liverpool have taken another step towards the Premier League crown.

Not only are the Reds six points above Arsenal but they have a +10 better goal difference - something that can be regarded as an additional point in itself. Heading into this weekend’s fixtures, the Reds were given a 91.5 per cent chance of winning being crowned champions by stats boffins Opta. When the numbers are crunched following the latest games, that figure will have augmented. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta suggested at his pre-Wolves press conference that Liverpool will have a difficult spell at some point. As things stand, there’s scant evidence that will happen.