Recent 0-0 draws with Everton and Manchester United - while not horrendously bad results in isolation - have served Liverpool with a dose of title-chasing reality.
It means they have now drawn four from six, allowing a lead that once stood at a commanding seven points to flip on its head, and they currently sit a point behind Pep Guardiola's formidable Manchester City, who are odds-on favourites to lift a second successive title.
It represents a dip in form from Liverpool, that, in normal circumstances, would be nothing out of the ordinary. In any other season, against any other opponent, their 70 points would be enough to have them comfortably clear at the top of the division, regardless of the recent struggles that befall even the best of teams.