What the papers say...

For a player entering a period that will effectively decide whether he has future employment with Liverpool, Emile Heskey chose an opportune moment to score his first goal of the season, his old team-mates at Leicester City proving a lucky omen at Anfield. On Friday, Liverpool secured the £10million signing of Djibril Cissé from Auxerre, a deal to be completed next summer. That fact, allied with the medium-term absence of injured Milan Baros, has left Heskey with three months to prove to manager Gérard Houllier that he is worthy of a place in at least the Liverpool squad. After a week that had seen Liverpool lose Baros and Jamie Carragher to broken bones following the much publicised and heavily bruising victory at Blackburn Rovers - a game that also saw Houllier embroiled in a public mud-slinging match with one of his predecessors, Graeme Souness, for much of the ensuing seven days - the relief among the players at being able to concentrate upon football once more was tangible.
Ian Whittell, The Observer

Liverpool's strange inability to put sides to the sword at home continues. Having won in some style at Goodison Park and Ewood Park previously, the Merseysiders laboured on their own ground to beat one of the weaker sides in the Premiership. In the end, they had to settle for a Michael Owen penalty and an Emile Heskey toe-poke as a means of breaking their duck at Anfield. But as Heskey's goal against his old club did not come until 16 minutes from the end, Liverpool had to live in fear of an equaliser for far too long. In fact, they were very fortunate that Leicester's goal, scored by Marcus Bent, did not materialise until a couple of minutes from the end. As such, it did not leave the visitors enough time to press successfully for another.
Colin Mallam, Sunday Telegraph

This season has had a few surprises already but few have been as eyebrow-raising as how Liverpool are playing. Forget the side who made paint-drying an attractive alternative in the dreary days of last winter, they now embody the one word you would not have used to describe them no matter how much you admired their more prosaic qualities: exciting. It is as if the penny has dropped for manager Gérard Houllier, who resented the less than flattering notices but has now done something about it by spicing up his team with attractive attackers. As a result they are getting the results to add to their finesse, this being their third win in succession. Harry Kewell, bought from Leeds in the summer, has made an obvious difference by adding threat to the left but El Hadji Diouf's resurrection on the opposite flank as a player who can bewitch and beat opponents has added balance. Add Vladimir's Smicer's re-emergence as a central midfielder and the whole mood of the team has changed. Driven by the excellent Steven Gerrard, who orchestrated everything from just in front of the back four, Liverpool deserved a wider margin than Marcus Bent's late effort for Leicester gave them. In the end Emile Heskey's goal, against the club he invested more than £100,000 in when they were in financial trouble last season, proved decisive.
Guy Hodgson, Independent on Sunday