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After navigating the thorny maze that was October, Liverpool finds itself on the doorstep of opportunity this weekend.
And in many ways, it’s the same one they kicked so hard around this time last year.
It was November 2019 when Jurgen Klopp’s side faced Manchester City in a match that despite the infancy of the season, was heralded as crucial to the eventual fate of the Premier League title.
The victory of the Reds, who top the table, would be enough to send them eight points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s men heading into the international break.
Twelve months later, those circumstances await the champions once again as they prepare to go head-to-head with City once again.
A fifth win in the last eight against Guardiola’s side this Sunday will once again open an eight-point gap and preserve Liverpool’s status as league leaders heading into the break.
But while there are similarities to that 3-1 win, the Reds also face some key differences.
While last November’s win put the Reds in a dominant position over City, their eight-point lead was earned after a dozen games had been played.
In time, City will only have played seven by Sunday night and will host champions Klopp instead of playing at Anfield, where their record is miserable.
Their form at home is good against Klopp’s Liverpool, particularly Guardiola, where they have yet to lose in the Premier League.
The Reds’ most recent visit to the Etihad was also a miserable night.
Or, perhaps more accurately, it should have been if the 4-0 loss hadn’t come just days after they were crowned Premier League champions.
The year before was certainly more damaging, with City’s 2-1 victory in January 2019 proving so pivotal to the final fate of the title a few months later.
“It seems that even you think that it is not decisive!” Klopp told the media on Friday.
And while such claims are correct, the game will offer a useful barometer on how the rest of this campaign could work out.
Once again, the country’s two best teams and the Premier League’s highest-profile coaches collide.
However, a loss, while not insignificant, will not derail Liverpool, even if it slows the momentum that has been building since that strange night at Aston Villa.
However, a loss for City would surely have a more lasting impact.
It would further remove his greatest threat in his quest to regain supremacy at the top of English football.
After a year of seeing the unbridled Reds back away from them to the point where they finished 18 points behind, seeing Liverpool do the same so early in this campaign could have many psychological ramifications for rivals.
And although Guardiola’s men still have the caveat of playing a game in hand, any coach would tell you that he would rather have the points on the board.
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Simply put, the onus falls on the hosts of Sunday’s all-star duel.
Liverpool, for all the neutral bluster about how an unpredictable season could deliver a surprise winner, are still the best team in the country.
Their path to last season’s title, one that saw them win in a record time of just 31 games, oddly enough seems to have been quickly forgotten at times.
Perhaps it is the desire to see others challenge at the top?
Or the hope of more thoroughbreds in the race?
Perhaps the anomaly of that 7-2 loss at Villa Park still hangs in the collective consciousness?
Or is it the absence of Virgil van Dijk that no longer sees Liverpool as favorites for this Premier League title?
Whatever the reasons, Klopp and the players were in charge of a difficult period, picking up seven points from the last nine on offer, after the international break, to regain their top spot.
The city will have its eyes on maintaining that position again, but will the loss of defeat outweigh the spoils of victory on Sunday?
It is almost the ideal position for Liverpool to be in.
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