Twice already this season Gérard Houllier's team had stumbled miserably against these opponents, with the FA Cup stalemate here a third failure. This, then, was fourth time lucky but it was also the riotous victory, laced with a welcome brace from Michael Owen, which the Kop has been craving. The world will look better from fifth place this morning.
It was the England striker's return to form, as much as the zest in Liverpool's passing, which offered the greatest encouragement. The 24-year-old had been the first to return to the dressing room after the pre-match warm-up, champing at the bit to get the contest started. Before the half-hour he had the goal that has eluded him through a depressingly barren run; by the end the bite was back in his game.
Portsmouth never came close to coping with him. He had already charged down on goal once by the time he fed the galloping Jamie Carragher down the right in the build-up to his first goal. The full-back's cross was dummied by Emile Heskey and,with Portsmouth's centre-halves in a muddle in the middle, Liverpool's leading scorer gathered, wriggled through and calmly speared his 13th goal of the season, if only his second in the league since October 25, into the corner.
"Not only is he a star player but a team player," said Houllier, relieved that the second goal that proved beyond them in the fifth-round Cup tie last month was achieved here. "His closing down helps those in midfield win the ball back and the defence push up more as well. His confidence will now improve because goals do that to strikers."
Owen's all-round contribution was crucial, though Portsmouth were so porous that Liverpool were always likely to prosper. "We played with variety, scored good goals and their goalkeeper Shaka Hislop was man of the match," said Houllier. "That says it all.
The majesty of the opening goal had done much to puncture Portsmouth's challenge. Given their appalling away record this term - it now stands at four points, six goals and no wins from 15 trips - Redknapp needed solidity from the outset. Instead Owen gathered Harry Kewell's overhit corner and crossed to the edge of the area. There loitered Dietmar Hamann, his hammer of a right foot cocked, to batter a blistering volley beyond the static Hislop.
The goalkeeper did well to deny John-Arne Riise, Kewell and Igor Biscan before half-time with Pompey alarmingly becalmed. When they did muster a riposte in the second half, Dejan Stefanovic bludgeoning a free-kick on to the bar, it served only to stir the home side to a response.
Steven Gerrard's whipped corner careered through the clutter in the six-yard box and Owen, peeling away, obligingly flicked a header into the corner. Thereafter Anfield's lowest league crowd of the season thrilled as Danny Murphy, freed by Owen's clever pass, and Heskey struck the woodwork. The visitors may have been desperately poor but this was a performance that was long overdue.
"Liverpool clicked tonight and overran us but, if you look at the quality of their team, if they don't click then something's seriously wrong," said Redknapp, who could take a crumb of comfort from the return, if only for 45 minutes, of last year's leading goalscorer Svetoslav Todorov.
Much has been wrong on Merseyside this term, though here was a hint of better times ahead. Not so for Pompey: entrenched in the bottom three with their game in hand spent, they must view their derby with Southampton on Sunday as a make-or-break occasion. "We need to win five out of the last 10 games and that makes Sunday crucial," added Redknapp. "Hopefully we can pull away but it's going to be tight and tough." Bitter reality is biting on the south coast.