Arne Slot bristled at the suggestion that his Liverpool team are now the epitome of professional on Friday, but routine victories such as this will do little in the fight against that.

The Reds boss reacted with curiosity when it was put to him that Tuesday's 2-1 win over Lille was relatively straightforward and stress-free and he had to be told that such a notion was in fact a positive way of describing his team's football.

Liverpool might have been the subject of a tedious national radio debate on Tuesday about how exciting they actually are to watch but try levelling a 'boring' accusation at the door of a fanbase who are starting to dream big for what could be achieved this season.

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And while the Premier League leaders ran out 4-1 winners over Ipswich Town here at Anfield, this was never going to be the sort of day that allowed Slot to gather enough evidence to deny suggestions that his well-drilled team aren't a particular joy to watch for the neutrals.

Frankly, who cares? Reds fans themselves most certainly won't.

Two goals from Cody Gakpo after Mohamed Salah had added to Dominik Szoboszlai’s opener was enough for the league leaders here before Jacob Greaves ensured their would be no clean sheet bonus late on.

And after being challenged by Slot on Friday to provide more of a threat in possession, the returning Ibrahima Konate did just that for the opening goal when his pass carved apart Ipswich's midfield for Szoboszlai to cause havoc.

The Hungary captain steadied himself and fired low to give the hosts the lead after 11 minutes and Virgil van Dijk's immediate beeline for Konate was telling as to how much the captain enjoyed seeing his colleague provide the telling pass.

The second arrived by what has become something of a familiar routine as Gakpo drifted in field and floated an in-swinging cross to the back post where Salah was there to greet it. The Egyptian controlled the pass and stuck it high into the corner for his 23rd of the campaign.

It's been a good week for Salah, with his back-to-back goals against Lille and Ipswich just easing any vague concerns after a run of three games without registering. There were around five flags in total dedicated to Salah on the Kop, which only further underlines the demand from supporters that his contract situation reaches a positive resolution and next on the to-do list for the No.11 will be to reach another 30-goal haul and an eighth successive in-house Golden Boot.

Liverpool’s third arrived via Gakpo after another penetrating Szoboszlai run ended with goalkeeper Christian Walton saving into the path of the Dutch forward. It was a superb pass from Ryan Gravenberch to set the chance up initially and the former Bayern Munich was once more outstanding in the engine room.

Fears have started to creep in that the midfielder might be being overused but he was a joy to watch here, constantly weaving his way out of trouble in the middle of the park and getting his colleagues on the front foot. A rest must be due for PSV on Wednesday, however, with high-flying Bournemouth hosting next week.

Gakpo headed home his second of the afternoon on 66 minutes from a pinpoint Trent Alexander-Arnold delivery and the assist was nothing less than the marauding right-back deserved, having tormented Ipswich down that flank all game. It's now nine in his last nine home games for Netherlands international Gakpo, who is having his best season to date at Anfield. His contributions have been a key reason behind such a sustained push for honours to date.

The suffering Ipswich fans were given something to cheer late on when a sloppy final 10 minutes or so from their hosts was punished by Greaves's header from a corner, but it was scant consolation for a team who knew they were well beaten. It was left to the visitors to keep themselves amused about going on to win 5-4. It never looked likely.

And as the scoreline of Bournemouth's 5-0 hammering of Nottingham Forest was read out over the tannoy at full-time, the lack of any enthusiasm from the Liverpool fans laid bare how much they really consider Nuno Espirito Santo's team as genuine rivals for the Premier League title.

But if Forest, who are now nine points back in third, were in the hunt prior to a damaging defeat on the south coast, it’s tempting to suggest that this chase for the biggest honour in English football is now down to just two in Liverpool and Arsenal.

And for a long time, it looked as though this stroll against a relegation-threatened Ipswich would represent a much more important day for Slot's men than it had any right to be given its low-key status.

But a second-half winner for 10-man Arsenal at Wolves, who also had a man sent off at Molineux, means the status quo is only preserved ahead of a potentially seismic weekend when the Reds travel to Bournemouth and the Gunners host Manchester City the following day.

Emerge from that trip to the Vitality with three more points and belief will only swell further. And there will be no-one calling that boring then.