Even without suspended captain Steven Gerrard, Liverpool had too much firepower for opponents whose attempt to keep a high line defensively left them vulnerable to the pace of Djibril Cisse, Gerrard's replacement. So it was no surprise when the France international laid on the first goal for Robbie Fowler and scored the second himself.
In the scramble for safety at the bottom, Portsmouth's win at Fulham brought them level with Albion, while Birmingham's draw with Chelsea lifted them to within two points of their Midlands rivals. So Bryan Robson's team could not afford to lose.
The worst fears of the West Brom supporters were realised after only six minutes. Liverpool took the lead with a piercing move that saw Xabi Alonso release Cisse on the right with a pass Paul Robinson failed to cut out.
Making ground quickly, Cisse delivered the perfect low centre across goal for Fowler to apply an emphatic coup de grace.
Fowler looked offside, but the Albion fans' fury at the absence of a flag was alleviated somewhat by the failure of Liverpool to press home their advantage until the 38th minute. At that point, another simple long ball through the middle by Alonso left Cisse free to roll a second goal into an empty net.
At the start of the second half, the replacement of Diomansy Kamara with Zoltan Gera in attack brought West Brom fresh impetus and hope. Twice in the first six minutes the injury-plagued Hungary international troubled Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina.
Gera, whose long absence this season has been one of the reasons for West Brom's failure to improve on last season's narrow escape from relegation, also forced Reina to make another reflex save later in the second half. But Liverpool could have gone further ahead had Cisse, running free, not lashed a shot into the side-netting and his replacement, Fernando Morientes, put a Harry Kewell cut-back the wrong side of a post.
Playing with much more vigour and sense of purpose in the second half, Albion kept plugging away. Nothing would go right for them, however.
Jonathan Greening did get the ball into the Liverpool net, only to find the move correctly ruled offside, and referee Uriah Rennie was deaf to their appeals for penalties when the ball struck Jamie Carragher and Momo Sissoko on the arm.
