Liverpool may be languishing 19th in football's international rich list, but it is unlikely anyone at Anfield will be too bothered. While the men in suits at Old Trafford oozed aristocratic self-importance this weekend, Manchester United having retained their status as the world's wealthiest club, 40 miles along the M62 they simply shrugged their shoulders and gazed affectionately towards the only league table that counts.
Success for Liverpool has always been measured by the club's trophy cabinet rather than their finances, and the way things are heading the renascent Merseysiders may feel inclined to send out for some more silver polish.
It is a notion that has blossomed not just because of the 10-match unbeaten sequence that has made this Liverpool's best start to a Premiership season, but the manner in which some of their results are being churned out.
Saturday's victory over an indefatigable Derby owed as much to resolute defending and outstanding goalkeeping as to Michael Owen's 14th goal of the season, a refusal to buckle even when they could hardly string a pass together and, when all else failed, a big fat dollop of luck.
Thoughts need go back only to their three cup finals last season to know it is not the first time they have gratefully, almost sheepishly, accepted the platitudes after hardly even smouldering, never mind catching fire.
Yet those critics who are depicting this as a team blessed with devilish fortune are missing the point. Efficiency should not be sneered at, and that is what they have become: efficient.
Phil Thompson, Liverpool's caretaker manager, was sceptical when he heard Alex Ferguson had all but written off United's hopes of making up lost ground, but for as long as his players retain this winning mentality the gulf between the sides is more likely to grow than narrow.
"I remember winning the Scudetto with Juventus and Lazio and we used to say that we must always get something even when we are not at our strongest," observed Derby's Fabrizio Ravanelli.
"That is what Liverpool have now. And then they have Michael Owen. He is a gift from heaven. Owen, Raul, Christian Vieiri . . . they are the best in the world."
The predatory fashion in which Owen pounced after Mart Poom, Derby's goalkeeper, had carelessly spilled Patrik Berger's speculative shot would support Ravanelli's theory.
DERBY : Poom, Grenet, Mawene, Riggott, Higginbotham, Zavagno, Ducrocq, Carbone, Powell, Christie, Ravanelli. Subs Not Used: Oakes, Burton, Kinkladze, Murray, Boertien. Booked: Higginbotham.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Henchoz, Hyypia, Riise, Murphy, Hamann, Gerrard, Berger (McAllister 75), Owen (Litmanen 82), Heskey. Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Smicer, Wright. Booked: Owen, Heskey. Goal: Owen 6.
Referee: G Barber (Tring).
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