Liverpool visited Wigan last night and were in 9th place before the match. A win was a must to keep our Champions League qualification dream alive. We delivered a great performance with the help some poor defending by Wigan. Suarez was terrific and scored a hat-trick. Downing scored the opener inside 2 minutes. Reina made a couple of amazing saves to keep a clean-sheet. Solid 4-0 win. We're now in 7th place 9 points behind 4th place, Tottenham which yet to play Arsenal (5th) by the time I'm writing this.

Starting XI 4-3-3 formation

Sturridge didn't start due to an injury. Hence, Coutinho, Suarez, & Downing started as the 3 attackers. Coutinho was brilliant in this match. Before the match, I was hoping he could show some of his Brazilian skills and he did. Reina distributed the ball very well from his penalty box into the space which where Coutinho collected the ball. He teased Boyce then accelerated past him. He crossed a perfect ball to Downing who headed it into the goal. Perfect start.

Coutinho then sparked the move for the second goal. Picked up the ball from his own-half, interchanged passes with Gerrard, dribble passed an opponent, & made a perfect through ball to Suarez. Suarez's touch to set his way was great too. Good finish and great team goal. Suarez's 2nd goal came from a deflected direct free-kick. His 3rd goal, again started from our own-half. This time it was Johnson made a terrific run passed 4 Wigan's players before through the ball to Suarez - hat-trick! His 2nd hat-trick in the league this season. Suarez now has scored 21 goals in the league making him the top scorer at the moment. In total, he has scored 28 goals this season. What an amazing season he's having. Please stay next season, Luis.

Reina performance in this match was superb too. It's like everything went well last night. He made a couple of top-class saves in the first-half. I honestly though the ball was going into the goal in both occasions. Any other day when he does not perform, those two chances definitely turn to goals . The final scoreline could have been 2-2, 3-3, or something.  He also made few other decent saves. Well done, Pepe. If he can keep his consistency, I'd love to see him stay for next season.

As for our defense, I thought we did well. Although Wigan managed to create few good chances & attempt more shot on goals compared to us, our defense were fine. I saw their aggressiveness at the back. Our defense made several blocks and pressured opponents early. We had no problem in midfield. Gerrard was great, as always. Lucas did well on his duty, making aggressive tackles & closed opponents down. He made the most tackles with 7 (Gerrard is 2nd with 5 tackles). One thing I'd like to highlight here is Allen's role. I like seeing him playing like last night. He was given a role to make forward runs into opponent's penalty box and at the same time playing further upfront behind Suarez. He caused few problems to Wigan's defense with his passes & runs.

It was surprised to see Wigan attempted more shots & had more possession than us. We were a bit more direct than we used to be too. The only thing that frustrated me little bit here is that Rodgers only made one substitution - Henderson came on for Coutinho. When it was 15 to 10 minutes left, we were already 4 goals up. I thought the match was already won by us. I was hoping Rodgers could give a chance to Assaidi or Suso, but he didn't. Why? I have no idea.

Anyhow, it was a great performance all around. 10 matches to go. Tottenham are next at Anfield. We need to win all 10 matches if we want to qualify for Champions League next season. Honestly, I believe we can finish at least 6th. Realistically, 5th place is the possible target. 4th place? Possible, but hard. Or should I be a little bit more optimistic; 4th place finish - hard but possible.