Fair to say Alisson Becker didn’t have the best of times when Liverpool met West Ham United back in November.
From punching the ball into his own net, conceding another two avoidable goals and being on the losing side for the first time in seven months, it was a rare afternoon when question marks were asked of the Brazilian.
Indeed, Michail Antonio readily admitted afterwards the Hammers had targeted the goalkeeper at set-pieces while looking to keep the ball away from Virgil van Dijk as often as possible.
So when David Moyes clearly implored his players to use the same approach here, there could be no excuse for Liverpool not being prepared.
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Alisson was. And he needed to be as West Ham caused nerves to jangle inside Anfield with Liverpool’s defensive resolve being given a severe test for the second successive weekend.
If Sunday was Caoimhin Kelleher’s moment, this was the evening for the Reds’ first-choice between the sticks to underline his position as perhaps the world’s best goalkeeper.
Alisson made fine saves first half to twice deny Antonio and Tomas Soucek and, as the inevitable set-piece barrage came, he was able to deal convincingly enough when required.
And when the goalkeeper was finally beaten first half, he was indebted to Trent Alexander-Arnold making an acrobatic goalline clearance to prevent Pablo Fornals scoring his customary goal against Liverpool.
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He wasn’t the only one, with Andy Robertson and Naby Keita also making goal-saving interventions after the break.
It was that attitude that helped stop Liverpool, far from at their best, being undone by West Ham’s obvious but effective gameplan.
In front of Alisson, both Ibrahima Konate and Van Dijk stood tall, the former growing in confidence, the latter immense in the final half-hour to become the first player to make 60 home Premier League appearances without being on the losing side - a remarkable indication of his importance and the Reds' Anfield dominance.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t convincing. Liverpool, though, dug deep.
This was a big win. And a relieved and elated Anfield knew it when referee Jon Moss finally blew the whistle on a tense affair. Over to you, Manchester City.
