When Virgil van Dijk's knee buckled under the rash challenge of Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford back in October, the trajectory of Liverpool's season drastically altered.
Objectives had to be reassessed and realigned. Though the Reds were top of the table with a small cushion, the chance of a sustained title defence without the input of arguably the world's best defender leading from the back was seen as slim.
Weeks later, however, when the Dutchman was to be joined by his partner Joe Gomez on the treatment table for the remainder of the season, things quickly went from bad to worse.