Christmas has always been a time to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Premier League.
And while the impact of the World Cup break means it's a little premature to be making any definitive judgements, what hasn't changed is the sheer concentration of games allowing for a season to be transformed.
Liverpool, then, will aim for a perfect festive period when they seek nine points out of nine with victory at Brentford on Monday evening in the knowledge it would move them up into fifth place and within touching distance of not only the Champions League qualification berths, but also third-placed Newcastle United.
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The Magpies, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City are among clubs to have faltered already on the restart to the Premier League campaign, allowing runaway leaders Arsenal to strengthen their position as clear title favourites and add further intrigue to the race for a top-four finish.
With more than half of the campaign remaining, there remains plenty of scope for the landscape to be altered. Jurgen Klopp, though, knows Liverpool cannot afford to fall too far behind in the race, their run of four successive league triumphs suggesting that while performances remain inconsistent - as evidenced by the slog in beating Leicester City 2-1 on Friday night - results are beginning to turn in their favour.
"Winning games is the only way we can put pressure on, that's what we have to do," says the Reds boss. "We have felt often enough that when you have good teams on your back it is not very comfortable. And that is the situation we are in.
"Result-wise we have this momentum, performance-wise I would like more consistency. But we feel we will get there and results help the most to get there. I didn’t see anyone saying on Friday was the best football we ever played, and we are self-critical and we know we have to improve and sort things better on the pitch. That's absolutely clear. That's what we will try.
"Now it is a really tough but for Brentford as well to have these games in such a short period of time but that is the job to do now. To recover and give fresh information as the game the game is not too different to the way Leicester played on Friday with a lot of long balls, Brentford will do those as well.
"Ivan Toney is there and takes all the balls or deflects them, their set-pieces are outstanding and it's really tricky to defend them. Set-pieces are a real strength for them. There's not a lot of time but we will use it anyway."
Brentford are confident Toney will be available despite leaving the field on a stretcher during the 2-0 win at West Ham United on Friday night.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are almost certain to ring the changes. Andy Robertson suffered from the lingering effects of a dead leg in Friday's home win over Leicester with Kostas Tsimikas, who replaced him during the second half, on standby to start. Ibrahima Konate could make his first appearance after returning from the World Cup, Naby Keita and Fabio Carvalho are pressing for starts, while Roberto Firmino, James Milner and Curtis Jones could also be involved after injury.
"Bobby and Milly, we have to see but there is a chance," says Klopp. "Ibou has a good chance, Curtis is now in full training so not sure, maybe for the squad but obviously this information I don’t have yet. Let’s see."
One player unlikely to feature, though, is latest signing Cody Gakpo, with the Dutchman's registration not expected to be completed in time to train with his new team-mates ahead of the match.
"If I worked in the (registration) offices then I am early awake so I could sign these papers at 6.30 in the morning, but I am not too sure that will happen," says Klopp. "It must be before 12 and on top of that he is of course not allowed to train with the team before the papers are signed.
"Technically he is still an Eindhoven player (until then). There is a chance, but I don't know if it's really there."
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