Jurgen Klopp admitted he was "concerned" by the ruinous potential of a Leicester City backlash.
After seeing Brendan Rodgers' side comprehensively knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Nottingham Forest on Sunday, the Liverpool boss said he was worried about the damage the wounded Foxes could do to his Premier League title hopes on Wednesday.
He needn't have fretted too much.
Liverpool were superior in all departments here as the Premier League's return to Anfield after close to a month away coincided with a Diogo Jota double that secured a 2-0 win.
The Reds are purring again and the season has never looked full of more promise as the battle on four fronts goes on.
Despite that optimism, one likely irritant in recent weeks for Klopp will have been the inability to place any additional pressure on Manchester City.
Only once since December 4 have the Reds played before their title rivals on a Premier League match-day, leaving them only able to remain on the coattails of the leaders during that time.
That sequence has meant Liverpool have not found out just how Pep Guardiola's men might react to knowing their sizable lead has been cut before their own games.
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And even if the Liverpool manager would not publicly admit as much, that his team continue to head into fixtures knowing that City have usually already taken care of their own business will be an unwelcome layer of pressure to proceedings.
When a virtually flawless set of results are needed merely to stay within touching distance, the lack of room for error becomes a perilous tightrope.
So for now, the brief is very much to continue plugging away, hoping for a slip up at some stage or another.
Liverpool's game-in-hand - that rearranged Boxing Day meeting with Leeds on February 23 - and a visit to the Etihad itself in the second week of April will surely need maximum points to truly unnerve Guardiola.
Until then, all Klopp and co can do is negotiate the hurdles in their path, just like they did here against Rodgers' Leicester.
With Mohamed Salah understandably reserved for bench duty after his efforts for AFCON runners-up Egypt, all eyes were on £50million Luis Diaz who made his Premier League debut following the recent move from Porto.
The new No.23 was a hive of activity all game and his all-action displays have already drawn some hushed comparisons with the last Luis to sign for the Reds in January by the name of Suarez.
The 25-year-old will do well to earn remarks like that on a more prolonged basis but it's been an encouraging start for Liverpool's first-ever Colombian star.
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On another day, he might have had a couple of goals but for the excellent Kasper Schmeichel but as former Reds star Luis Garcia remarked on Twitter: "Diaz looks like he was born in Liverpool."
His standing ovation late on was richly deserved.
Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Alisson Becker all returned to the starting lineup too as Klopp flexed the considerable muscles of a squad that suddenly looks purpose built to fight on all fronts.
The manager virtually has a full set of players to choose from right now and the strength of the bench alone showed just how powerful this current Liverpool is as the likes of Naby Keita and Ibrahima Konate were given watching briefs alongside Salah.
Perhaps, though, the overall quality was displayed by those who were conspicuous by their absence on the nine-man bench as Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane, Joe Gomez and Divock Origi all missed out.
The first half hour was full of endeavour but short on chances with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming closest when his left-footed effort was palmed over the bar by Schmeichel.
The breakthrough came shortly after that when Jota, who had looked uncomfortable stationed on the right of the front three, reacted quickest inside the six-yard box after Virgil van Dijk's header had been saved.
For supporters, it's been a joy to watch the former Wolves man blossom for the Reds since he was initially signed in September 2020 as a high-calibre deputy to a traditional front three that many thought were unbreakable as an attacking trident long term.
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Jota is now one of the in-form strikers of Europe and is showing no signs of slowing down as he hares towards that 20-goal target on 17.
Up to 12 in the Premier League, Mo Salah now has a real challenger for that Golden Boot from within his own dressing room and it will be fascinating to watch that friendly battle unfold in the coming months.
Klopp sent on Salah and Elliott before the hour mark as Curtis Jones and Roberto Firmino made way and Jota went back down the centre.
The roar that greeted Salah's return said it all about just how much he has been missed and if he needed to have his spirits raised after his AFCON heartbreak, this will have helped hugely.
Salah had three chances to add to his own tally with one curled effort pinging the woodwork moments after Schmeichel had got a palm to another shot.
It was left to Jota to extinguish Leicester's lingering hopes with a smart finish from Joel Matip's clever assist as Liverpool finally wrapped up what could yet be a vital victory in the chasing down of City.
"Bring on your Internazionale!" sang the Kop at full time and there will be time for just that with an impending visit to the San Siro in the Champions League to come next week.
For now, though, it is Burnley who lie in wait for Klopp's renewed and refreshed charges.
