Rafa Benítez gambled and won as Liverpool moved back up to fifth with a victory that was stylish as well as convincing. Either throwing caution to the wind or realising that he could afford to take a few risks against the bottom-placed club, Benítez backed up Fernando Torres with Alberto Aquilani as well as Ryan Babel and was rewarded when all three made it on to the score sheet.

Perhaps a comfortable stroll against a team with Portsmouth’s problems does not represent a turning point or even a return to business as usual for Liverpool but though at least the respite was welcome after two successive defeats and a truly grim performance at Wigan. For an eerie first half-hour until the goals arrived Anfield was noticeably quiet. By the end there were not only songs to sing and spontaneous bursts of applause for crisp passing moves but Aquilani’s first goal in English football. “He is a good player and that will increase his confidence but we had many good players tonight,” Benítez said.

Liverpool’s win would have been more emphatic still had Stuart Attwell awarded a penalty when Glen Johnson was scythed down by Nadir Belhadj midway through the second half, though equally Liverpool would have been down to 10 men had the referee spotted Steven Gerrard’s elbow on Brown, an assault that may jeopardise his involvement against Manchester United on Sunday should the official be invited to review his decision. Attwell penalised Gerrard for flooring Brown yet could not have seen the nature of the foul, otherwise a red card would have been produced. Benítez said he had not seen the incident.

Unusually poor delivery by Gerrard saw Liverpool waste a succession of free-kicks and corners in the opening minutes,, and Torres might have had an early penalty when Ricardo Rocha appeared to handle his shot in the area, though there were signs of growing understanding in a reshaped midfield. Aquilani started to link with Maxi Rodríguez and both were involved in setting up Gerrard for a shot that flew high into the Kop. Then the Italian was unlucky when his first-time volley missed by inches after Rodríguez’s pass dropped over his shoulder.

It took a double mistake by the reserve goalkeeper Jamie Ashdown to open the floodgates for Liverpool. First his weak clearance was returned by Gerrard, then he dallied too long over Rocha’s backpass and allowed the Liverpool captain to charge down his next attempt. Rodríguez unselfishly squared to Torres and the home side were in front. Two minutes later Liverpool doubled their lead and effectively killed the game, something of a rarity in these parts nowadays, when Torres picked up Johnson’s cross at the far post and comprehensively beat Steve Finnan to allow Babel to check round his marker and score.

Torres was again the provider for Aquilani’s goal, this time with a neat backheel. Once Gerrard’s dummy had wrongfooted the defence it was simple for Aquilani to slide in a shot from close to the penalty spot. “We went to sleep for seven minutes,” Avram Grant said after losing to Liverpool for the first time. “We made a mistake but you need to be awake all the time.”

Liverpool could have had more before the interval, with Torres striking a post and Gerrard putting a good chance wide, though Portsmouth showed character in keeping going. Frédéric Piquionne in particular was a handful for the home defence, on one occasion being rather harshly recalled after breaking clear from Daniel Agger for what appeared minimal contact. Then, as half-time approached, he cut in powerfully from the right and rolled a shot narrowly past Pepe Reina’s right-hand upright.

Ashdown partially atoned for his first-half errors by denying Gerrard and Babel in quick succession at the start of the second half though, not to be outdone, Reina produced an splendidly instinctive save, throwing out a hand to deflect the ball over the bar when Michael Brown seemed certain to score. The Liverpool goalkeeper produced one of the evening’s most inspired pieces of distribution, setting Babel free down the left wingwith a kick from his hands of perfect weight and accuracy. Babel galloped eagerly into acres of space, beyond Finnan, then spoiled the moment by crossing to no one in particular. It was not a total surprise. Liverpool were much improved, complete transformations take a little longer.

They scored their fourth with a typical finish from Torres, picked out by a precise pass from the impressive Aquilani, before Portsmouth gained a not undeserved consolation goal in the 89th minute, Belhadj tapping in after Piquionne had volleyed his cross back across goal to leave Reina furious at being denied a clean sheet. The question now is how much Liverpool’s teamsheet at Old Trafford will resemble this one.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolPortsmouthPaul Wilsonguardian.co.uk

• US group proposes to invest £110m to cut debt
• Holdings of Tom Hicks and George Gillett would be diluted

Liverpool have received what they consider the first serious offer to buy into the club after it was revealed that they are ready to open talks with the Rhône Group, a firm of multi-million pound fund managers.

The group, which is based in New York and has offices in both London and Paris, is proposing to invest £110m directly in Liverpool, which would settle a little under half of the club’s debt. Rhône will be issued new shares in the club in return, diluting the current 50% stakes of Liverpool’s co-owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The size of the equity stake which Rhône would be issued will become a matter for negotiation. It is believed the starting point for those talks will be for the co-owners’ stakes to be reduced to 30% each, with Rhône taking the remaining 40%.

The offer was received by Liverpool on Saturday and the matter has yet to be discussed at board level, though early indications are that the directors will consider it a sound first proposal. Liverpool’s board, and the co-owners, will hope Rhône’s bid encourages other viable bidders to come through with firm proposals.

It is thought that Gillett and Hicks are likely to consider that the valuation the Rhône group is putting on the club does not meet their aspiration to make a sizeable profit from their three years in control of Liverpool. It is understood the pair value the club’s equity at more than £300m. The Rhône deal would value Liverpool’s shares at £275m which Hicks, in particular, may not regard as an adequate figure. By contrast, there is talk of a £1.5bn offer for Manchester United from the Red Knights group of investors.

A further obstacle may be the lack of money going into the pockets of Hicks and Gillett. The Rhône deal involves paying off debt only and the current co-owners would, as a result, see their shareholdings in the club diluted.

However, with time running out for Liverpool in an ever more competitive race for a place in next season’s Champions League, a competition worth a minimum of £10m a year in direct revenues alone, there is an urgent need to secure fresh funding. Liverpool will hope that Rhône’s interest will flush out other potential investors and, either way, the club’s chances of raising more funds will be improved by the reduction in its debt.

Hicks and Gillett have been told by the Royal Bank of Scotland, as part of the refinancing package they agreed last year, that they have to reduce Liverpool’s £237m debt by at least £100m this summer and to that end their chief executive, Christian Purslow, has been working to find outside investors.

The Rhône group is the first to have sensed a chance to capitalise on Liverpool’s distress. At a time when US investors are increasingly looking to the English leagues for stakes in clubs, Rhône, a mid-size global investment business, would be looking for a long-term stake in the club. Although it would not have control of Liverpool’s affairs, it would break the 50-50 voting share Hicks and Gillett hold, which at times of disagreement between the owners is prone to cause stalemate.

Rhône’s proposal would also improve the club’s credit-worthiness which could, in turn, lead to finance being secured to finally begin work on the long-awaited new stadium in Stanley Park. The Rhône Group, established in 1997, says it specialises “in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalisation and partnerships with particular focus on European and trans- Atlantic investments. It is a private company which has been owned and managed by Robert F Agostinelli and M Steven Langman since inception.”

Agostinelli helped build up Goldman Sachs’ mergers and acquisitions business in London, then became a Lazard partner in 1987 before leaving to start the Rhône Group. Langman also worked at Lazard.

Premier LeagueLiverpoolBusinessMatt ScottDavid Connguardian.co.uk