Liverpool closed the gap on the Premier League leaders Manchester United to one point as Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 overwhelming win over Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday.
Gerrard provided his first League treble with two from the spot and Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera added the others to emphatically signal Liverpool's renewed title ambitions by a fourth consecutive win in all games.
United, who lost 4-1 to Liverpool at home before being beaten 2-0 at Fulham Saturday, find their top place faltering but still lead the table on 65 points from 29 matches and have a game in hand.
Liverpool moved up to 64 points, three clear of third-placed Chelsea who were upset 0-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
Arsenal consolidated fourth place on 55 points after Saturday's3-1 win at Newcastle United and Villa remain fifth with a three-point gap separating them from the Champions League hopes.
In Sunday's other actions, Wigan Athletic moved up to seventh after Ben Watson's goal gave them a 1-0 victory over Hull.
Defender Micah Richards spared the blushes of teammate Robinho, who missed a first half penalty, by scoring the only goal in Manchester City's 1-0 win against 10-man Sunderland.
Liverpool had secured victory by half-time by establishing a three-goal lead over the visitors. They then collected two more crucial strikes after the break to extend their goal difference beyond United's, a factor that could become decisive with the season drawing to a close.
Kuyt started Liverpool's rout after only eight minutes with a close-range finish after Gerrard's free-kick was headed on to the crossbar by Xabi Alonso.
Riera half-volleyed home the second from keeper Pepe Reina's long clearance on 33 minutes and six minutes later, Gerrard added a third from the spot after Nigel Reo-Coker had fouled Riera.
Villa's fortunes went from bad to worse after the restart as Gerrard was on target again from a well-worked free-kick five minutes into the second half.
However, the visitors' worst came on 65 minutes when their keeper Brad Friedel earned a red card for bringing down Fernando Torres and Gerrard sealed his treble on the resulting penalty.
(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)
