LITTLE by little, Liverpool are beginning to come together.

A 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday night banished any lingering fears that last weekend's White Hart Lane debacle had caused permanent damage to the morale of the squad.

And it gave yet another tantalising hint that this might be the start of something special - a first league title since 1990.

More important than the score was the ease in which it was achieved. This was the kind of result that Rafa Benitez's team would have struggled for last season, but times have changed at Anfield.

Of the Big Four, Liverpool have beaten Chelsea and Manchester United already.

Their local rivals Everton were brushed aside in September and the annoying banana-skins like Wigan and Manchester City were dealt with eventually as well, even if it did take until the last minute.

Now, with Fernando Torres back in the squad, with Robbie Keane remembering what that big net is for and with Albert Riera providing some class on the left wing, Liverpool approach a golden run of fixtures. A litmus test for the authenticity of this apparent title challenge.

Over the next month, the Reds face Bolton, Fulham, West Ham, Blackburn and Hull, five teams that you would expect to finish in the bottom half.

Five teams who have either struggled to get going this season or, in Hull's case, have faded away in recent weeks.

These are the periods that separate the contenders from the also-rans. If Manchester United or Chelsea had a run of fixtures like this, I think we'd all consider running to the nearest Singapore Pools outlet and backing them to pick up 15 points.

Those two powerhouses have players who know what it takes to win a title, who can lift themselves to battle for what others might mistakenly think of as foregone conclusions.

We can't say the same about Liverpool just yet. We know that they have big-game players, how else can you explain their tremendous European record?

Let's see what they're like in the routine encounters.

There are still enough question marks hanging over Liverpool to keep neutrals sceptical.

Benitez has a mixed record in the transfer market and there is nothing so far to suggest that Andreas Dossena is any better than Fabio Aurelio or that Philipp Degen has anything to offer the club at all.

Weak for cover

An injury to Benitez's best purchase of last season, Martin Skrtel, leaves them weak for cover at the back and if anything happens to Riera, they lose all of that potency on the left flank.

But if Liverpool can come through these five fixtures unscathed, if they can add 12 to 15 points to their total before Christmas week, those counter-points will begin to look rather hollow.

There has to be a point when Liverpool's excellent start grows into a genuine title challenge and this run of winnable games seems as good a marker as any.

I can't be the only person to have been caught out by Liverpool before, jumping on their bandwagon just in time for the axle to break.

But if they do well over the next four weeks, even I will have to admit that those 19 years of hurt might, just might be coming to an end.