Last time Brendan Rodgers faced Liverpool, he got a much-needed victory off his old club to allay some nagging doubts beginning to creep in at Leicester City.
Leicester won 1-0 at the King Power Stadium on December 28, keeping a rare clean sheet to go into the New Year with a spring in their step.
Fast-forward 44 days and the narrative has flipped completely. Since then, Liverpool have gone seven games unbeaten across all competitions, despite missing two of their biggest stars due to the Africa Cup of Nations, while Leicester have slumped into a worrying position.
The 4-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup was seismic in the East Midlands. It was an embarrassing derby defeat for the Foxes against a side in the division below – and the fallout has been extreme.
Rodgers took a remarkable tone in his post-match assessment, throwing his players under the bus by questioning their application, ability and motivation.
The Foxes manager questioned his players’ “hunger and desire to win” and made the eye-catching statement that “a lot of these players are not top players”.
“There are a lot of these players, between now and the end of the season, who need to prove that they are still worthy of being here, because we’ve seen it now for a little while,” he said.
“Forget about the players who are missing. There are players here that may have achieved everything that they can here. It’s not what I want to do.
“It’s something we’ll have to look at between now and the end of the season. Until then, they’ve got to have a look at themselves in the mirror and fight like hell to prove they’re good enough to be here.”
Those words are designed to provoke a response from his players, but they are also likely to have the opposite effect on many inside that dressing room.
Just ask the Liverpool players of the 2014/15 vintage, because they’ve seen it all before.
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Back then the result which prompted Rodgers to hit the panic button came against Stoke City on the final day of the season: a 6-1 defeat in May 2015 which triggered shockwaves at the club.
Rodgers insisted he had what it took to turn things around after the result saw his side finish sixth in the Premier League and end a third straight season without any silverware under his management. But he also had a message for the players: you’re not good enough.
“There are a number of key elements of the performance today that didn't surprise me, if I am honest,” he said post-match.
“There are areas that we will address in the summer, that will hopefully help us to be more competitive, more consistent, and to be up there from the beginning of the season. And we as a club will work very hard to make that happen.”
On that occasion Rodgers did keep his job – although in hindsight that may have been more down to Jurgen Klopp’s desire to have a sabbatical after stepping away from Borussia Dortmund that summer.
But the writing was on the wall for Rodgers at Liverpool. The 2015/16 season started badly with four wins from 11 games in all competitions and a 1-1 draw in the Merseyside derby in October was the final straw.
The Northern Irishman lasted three and a half years at Liverpool. It has only been three years since his appointment as Leicester boss, but there is an uneasy parallel beginning to develop between then and now.
First the shocking result. Then the player blaming. And now the assertion that an overhaul is required in the summer.
“We need to reinvigorate the squad. It’s as simple as that,” Rodgers said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“In order to evolve, you need to bring in players. The summer is an important time for us. Naturally if you have success, it brings a comfort.
“We’re not a top squad where we can bring players out and put others in. My job is to push them and not let them settle and help them be the best they can be.”
To be given the chance to oversee that reinvigoration of the playing squad, Rodgers needs a response from his players at his old stomping ground tonight.
