The collective joy between the travelling contingent and the Liverpool players after Rickie Lambert's goal against Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon said it all.
Almost instinctively, Lambert leapt into the away supporters in the Doug Ellis stand and the fans and the players celebrated as a collective, perhaps because they were all as relieved as each other. After all the misery and gloom of the first-half of the season, it's finally becoming enjoyable to look the Reds again and the confidence and swagger that Brendan Rodgers' side thrived off this time last year is slowly returning as they build momentum.
Even if there's still a fair share of potential heart attacks that await throughout the 90 minutes of spectating, Liverpool are becoming as fluid and attacking as they were in 2013-14 and the squad all seems to be on the same wavelength again.
Liverpool's win against Aston Villa was, if anything, a poignant definition of their recent displays - a terrific opening 45 minutes, following by a nervy, but ultimately rewarding second 45 minutes that the Reds battled through. The second-half felt much longer than the first, but whilst it was certainly nail-biting, the travelling Kop relished every second, particularly when the three points were sealed in the 79th minute. Knowing they had just survived a 20-minute onslaught from the hosts made Lambert's strike all the sweeter, but the visitors more than merited the three points on a whole.
Brendan Rodgers' side dominated proceedings in the first-half, Fabio Borini capping off a neat move before the half-an-hour mark by quite literally throwing himself at Jordan Henderson's cross for only his second Premier League goal in a Liverpool shirt. Despite one or two half-chances for the hosts, who put up a fight to their credit, it could (and should) have been a two goal deficit, had it not been for Raheem Sterling's unnecessary showmanship when through on goal but overall, they went into the interval fully deserving the advantage.
The second-half was a lot less straightforward but Liverpool's gritty display, in which everyone chipped in to help stave off the Villa fightback, saw them survive the pressure. Simon Mignolet was on hand to prevent Christian Benteke with a strong save, and he even caught a few crosses too as the Reds, strangely, defended set-pieces with confidence and held on to their lead, before Lambert sealed the win with a much-needed second.
When the full-time whistle sounded, it was met not only by sighs of relief, but a gleeful sense of belief that Liverpool are now on the way to building something this season. There's still plenty to play for and with tricky ties against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup on the immediate horizon and an even trickier February fixture list looming beyond that, the Reds are finally building some consistency and backing up results with performances - meaning they need not be as fearful facing the favourites to lift the Premier League crown as they may have been two months ago.
Daniel Sturridge has returned to training and is only a matter of weeks away in what will add a further boost to the Liverpool squad, who were forced to list the inexperienced Jordan Williams and recently re-called Jordon Ibe on the substitutes bench at Villa Park due to injuries and form, but the starting squad will be difficult to displace, even for someone of Sturridge's calibre.
Borini may not be the same clinical finisher, but he put in a decent showing up-front, his movement causing Villa's back-line notable issues and he is perhaps rewarding of starts in the next few games too.
Elsewhere, Sterling wasn't perhaps the rejuvenated figure many Liverpool fans hoped he would be on his return, but Coutinho was there to step up to the plate as he contributed with another outstanding performance. The Brazilian thrived showing his usual repertoire of dazzling footwork and terrific passing; be it short or long and when on song, he truly is one of the best attacking playmakers in English football and he is one of the more lethal weapons in the arsenal.
Perhaps the stand-out player, in the absence of Steven Gerrard, was stand-in captain Jordan Henderson. Just as he did against Swansea City, Henderson thrived in the absence of the 34-year-old and in addition to his usual workrate, his set-piece delivery, passing, leadership skills and final product were all finely tuned as he produced a wonderful performance from the centre of the park.
The defence were also impressive, despite having to deal with a barrage of crosses and set-pieces. Emre Can, Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho had a few moments where on another afternoon, things may have gone differently, but on a whole they were settled, composed and sturdy. Whilst Sakho's gait and seeming clumsiness in possession, his distribution, tackling and positioning are all of the highest order. Skrtel was as typically battling as ever, but without the poor individual mistakes that can often drag down otherwise decent performances (See: Debuchy goal - Arsenal). Furthermore Can, standing in at centre-back, was superb and demonstrated that his future is bright. Together, they kept a spirited Villa at bay, whilst Simon Mignolet thoroughly deserved his clean sheet between the sticks.
It was yet more evidence that things are on the up for Brendan Rodgers' side, and whilst there are still a few creases to iron out - things are looking significantly more optimistic than they were at the start of December. In a matter of weeks, Liverpool's situation is looking drastically improved, even with the news of Gerrard's departure announced earlier this month and it may only improve further.
Before Villa, Rodgers spoke of his optimism concerning the Reds' run-in and given how Liverpool have performed in the second-half of the last two campaigns under the Ulsterman, the next few months should be something to look forward to for the club's supporters.
Whilst there is still work to do, in gaining defensive consistency and ensuring the reintegration of Daniel Sturridge into the starting line-up runs smoothly, each piece is finally falling into place as Liverpool look to achieve something from the 2014-15 season. The only way is up.