Liverpool's remarkable 7-0 decimation of heated rivals Manchester United was a breath of crisply fresh air for all affiliated with the Merseyside outfit, who have drastically fallen below expectations this season.
Manager Jurgen Klopp will be positively delighted with the outcome, eclipsing his wildest dreams of how the affair might have swung.
The Reds still sit outside the top four - three points behind Tottenham Hotspur - and have already fallen to Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup, but a resounding run of form has followed in the Premier League, with four wins and one draw from the past five matches, keeping clean sheets in every fixture.
With alarming concerns over the efficacy of the midfield and the evaporation of the former intensity and guile, leaving the defence stranded and failing to provide the energy needed for Klopp's high-octane system to fire on all cylinders, the result will have provided the most emphatic of respite, with every department bearing a semblance to the formerly imperious Liverpool team.
And with the likes of Harvey Elliott playing an absolute blinder, there is newfound optimism over the future of the Merseyside outfit.
What does the future hold for Harvey Elliott?
Signing from Fulham for a record compensation fee of £4m in 2019 as a 16-year-old, Elliott has enjoyed his most impressive season for Liverpool, despite the collective woes, and now 19, is starting to offer the promise that was tantalised from an early age.
Valued at £53m by CIES Football Observatory, Elliott has played 38 matches across all competitions this term, scoring five goals and supplying two assists, and was dubbed "superb" by Liverpool writer Matt Addison for his performance against the Red Devils.
As per Sofascore, the teenage maestro recorded a match rating of 7.8, and it was the all-encompassing nature of his work that will have left Klopp gleaming.
The £40k-per-week Elliott provided a fine looping assist for the first of Darwin Nunez's brace of headed strikes, made 72 total touches and completed 45 of his 55 attempted passes (82%); with three total shots, a 100% dribble success rate and winning five of his seven ground duels, also making four tackles, Elliott proved his worth in a manner that belies his teenage years.
It was an enticing glimpse of things to come, and given Liverpool's heated interest in Borussia Dortmund phenom Jude Bellingham, Reds mouthes might be left watering in considering the dynamic duo that could be formed in the pair, if the outfit prove successful in their bid.
Bellingham has been superlative for the Yellow Wall since his £25m transfer from boyhood club Birmingham City in 2020, and this season has scored ten goals and served six assists from 31 matches, even captaining the side on multiple occasions.
As per FBref, the fellow 19-year-old ranks among the top 9% in Europe's top five leagues for goals, the top 12% for assists, the top 1% for successful take-ons, the top 8% for progressive carries, the top 9% for progressive passes and the top 3% for bocks per 90. With such a wide scope of skills, it is clear to see his prowess extends to every facet of a midfielder's game.
With Elliott listed as a comparable player to the England wonderkid, the pair could indeed craft a deadly link, and with a sturdy anchor situated at the foot of the midfield triad, Liverpool's machine could whir at a capacity that can match any engine in world football.
Amid the strife, there have been several positives from Liverpool's campaign; the prodigious Stefan Bajcetic's emergence perhaps the most salient.
Indeed, like his teenage teammate, the Spaniard has shown qualities that are hard to fathom considering the embryonic stage of his career, with Mohamed Salah suggesting just a matter of weeks ago that "since he started playing for us, he has been our best player."
That is fine praise but Elliott, given the amount of senior football he has played to date, is still very much the golden boy when it comes to the club's younger players.
That said, with Bellingham potentially in tow too, Klopp could have one of the most precocious central departments in history on his hands.