Rafael BenÍtez suggested that this was a match Liverpool might easily have drawn last season, but why look as far back as that? For Wigan Athletic read Portsmouth or Birmingham City, for this was precisely the type of match that Liverpool, not at their best and up against spirited and well organised opposition, had ended up drawing on the previous two weekends.

So what changed against Wigan? Simple. Fernando Torres played from the start. The Spain striker may not have scored – in fact, he fluffed three great chances in six first-half minutes – but his presence was a fundamental factor in this victory.

Not only did it buoy his teammates, it ensured that the Wigan defenders were never afforded a minute’s rest. In their desperation to stem the threat posed by Liverpool’s record signing, there was always a chance of a gap opening for another player.

So it proved in the 75th minute, when, with Torres dragging Emerson Boyce out wide, Yossi Benayoun, a less heralded summer signing, was provided with space to slip Titus Bramble, his marker, twice and apply the finish for his second goal in a week. As Wigan will testify, £20.2 million buys you more than goals.

This was a vital win for Liverpool. With Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers up next in the Barclays Premier League, they could ill afford to have gone into that run of difficult fixtures on the back of three successive draws.

BenÍtez is right to say that he has a squad equipped to win the title, but it is what he does with it that will determine whether Liverpool last the distance. Using Benayoun as an impact substitute seems to have currency – no wonder BenÍtez so bemoaned the absence against Birmingham of the Israel midfield player, who was unavailable because of Yom Kippur – but it is likely to be the manager’s deployment of Torres that may determine how Liverpool fare.

BenÍtez’s desire to have his star striker fit come the end of the season is understandable, but the manager must accept that modest opponents, especially, are given a lift when they do not see his star striker’s name on the teamsheet.

“We know that it is a long season and that we need to win games in a row if we want to win the league, but the situation is much better than it was a year or two ago,” BenÍtez said. “Last season we could not win away, now we can and now we have more quality players who can change games.”

Had Chris Hutchings, the Wigan manager, been able to call upon Torres, Benayoun, or even Antoine Sibierski, who had a hamstring injury, his team would probably have got the point their efforts deserved. Unfortunately for Hutchings, he had the lamentable Julius Aghahowa.

The Nigeria striker has not scored since his £2.1 million move from Shakhtar Donetsk in January and, given how he mystifyingly headed Jason Koumas’s cross wide from six yards in the final moments, it is worth wondering whether he will ever break his duck.

Still, Wigan should take a lot of heart from their performance. Marcus Bent’s 50th-minute goal should have stood when Aghahowa, who was not interfering with play, was wrongly judged offside, but Wigan have rarely had the rub of the green against the so-called “big four”. They have still to pick up a point against any one of them since winning promotion to the top division two years ago.

Wigan 0

(4-4-2): C Kirkland 7 – M Melchiot 8, E Boyce 6, T Bramble 7, K Kilbane 6 – P Scharner 7 (sub: R Taylor, 82min), M Brown 7, J Skoko 6, J Koumas 6 – M Bent 6, J Aghahowa 3.Substitutes not used:M Pollitt, F Hall, A Granqvist, S Olembe.Booked: Brown, Melchiot. Next: Manchester United (a).

Liverpool 1 Benayoun 75

(442): J M Reina 6 – Á Arbeloa 5, J Carragher 6, S Hyypia 6, F Aurélio 6 (sub: Y Benayoun, 56, 7) – J Pennant 5 (sub: A Voronin, 82), S Gerrard 6, J Mascherano 6, J A Riise 5 - F Torres 6 (sub: M Sissoko, 89), D Kuyt 6. Substitutes not used: C Itandje, S Finnan. Booked: Mascherano. Next: Tottenham Hotspur (h).

Referee M Clattenburg

Attendance 24,311