After navigating the spiky labyrinth in October, Liverpool are at the door of the opportunity this weekend.
And in many ways, it’s the same thing they kicked so hard around this time last year.
It was November 2019 when Jürgen Klopp’s team faced Manchester City in a game that, despite the beginning of the season, was seen as crucial to the eventual goal of the Premier League title.
The victory for the Reds’ leaders would be enough to send them eight points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s men on an international break.
Twelve months later, those circumstances may be waiting again for the champions preparing to play head to toe with City again.
A fifth win in their last eight games against Guardiola’s side this Sunday will again open an eight-point gap and maintain Liverpool’s status as leaders during the break.
While there are similarities with that 3-1 win, the Reds also face some key differences.
While last November’s triumph put the Reds in a commanding position over City, their eight-point lead was earned after a dozen games played.
Over time, City will only have played seven games by Sunday night and receive Klopp’s champions instead of playing at Anfield, where their record is miserable.
Their form at home is good against Klopp’s Liverpool, especially under Guardiola where they haven’t lost in the Premier League.
The Reds’ last visit to Etihad was also a miserable night.
Or more precisely, it should have been if the 4-0 defeat had not come a few days after their coronation to the Premier League champions.
The previous year was certainly more damaging: City’s 2-1 win in January 2019 proved crucial to the title’s ultimate goal a few months later.
“It looks like you think it’s not a decision maker!” Klopp told the media on Friday.
And while such claims are correct, the game provides a useful barometer of how the rest of this campaign could play out.
It is again the two best teams in the country and the most famous managers of the Premier League who clash.
Losing, while not insignificant, will not derail Liverpool, even if it slows down the momentum that has been building steadily since that bizarre night at the Aston Villa.
However, a loss to City would certainly have longer lasting effects.
This would further remove their greatest threat in their quest to regain supremacy at the top of English football.
After a year in which the rampant Reds tear themselves away from them to the point where they were 18 points behind, there could be many psychological ramifications for the challengers for Liverpool to do the same so early in this campaign.
And while Guardiola’s men still have the constraint of a game in hand, any manager would tell you they’d rather have the points on the board.
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Simply put, the responsibility for the All-Star duel on Sunday rests with the hosts.
Liverpool are still the best team in the country despite all the neutral vibes about how an unpredictable season could offer a surprise winner.
Their stroll to last season’s title, where they won it in only 31 games in record time, seems strangely at times to have been quickly forgotten.
Maybe it’s a desire to challenge others at the top?
Or the hope for more thoroughbreds in the race?
Perhaps the anomaly of that 7-2 defeat at Villa Park is still hanging 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 expertly handled a difficult time as they picked up seven points from the last nine after the international break to regain their top spot.
The city will keep its eyes on how to hold that position again at some point, but will the fate of defeat outweigh the spoils of victory on Sunday?
It is almost the ideal position for Liverpool to find themselves again.
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