Manchester City and Liverpool could be set for another titanic Premier League title battle.
Wednesday's home game against Leeds gives Jurgen Klopp's men the chance to trim the Blues' advantage at the summit to three points.
Irrespective of the outcome at Anfield, it looks like the showdown between the top two at the Etihad Stadium on April 9 could be crucial to the outcome.
If the race for glory proceeds on a knife-edge, it will evoke memories of 2018/19 when City pipped Liverpool by 98 points to 97.
It's been an intervening couple of years, although the managers and many of the star players have remained the same, plenty of things have changed.
City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell discussed this with Liverpool.com writer James Martin on the latest MEN Facebook Live.
DF : "There's a case to be made that these are the two greatest Premier League teams ever. How have Liverpool changed since that 2018/19 run-in? There was obviously the tricky title defence with a lot of injuries and a lot of dropped points.
"There's a tendency where people go, 'it's Klopp and Guardiola, so it's their teams'. But I think City have evolved quite a lot since that season - playing with a false nine all the time now, a lot more methodical than they were. How have Liverpool changed, or is it still the same?"
JM : "How Liverpool have changed could be the key to the title race because one of the biggest changes is the addition of Thiago. When he's fit, he does make it a very different team.
"Klopp traditionally had a workaday midfield - functional, does the job, and allows the full-backs to bomb forward and covers those gaps without really doing too much themselves in terms of their creative attacking function.
“But when Thiago’s fit, which is not as often as we would have liked, it’s a different ball game. He helps with those low block situations. He keeps us ticking and moves us forward. He’s always looking for the forward pass rather than shuffling it sideways.
“The craziest stat is Thiago and Fabinho having not lost a game when they’ve played alongside each other. So if they can stay fit for the rest of the season, I give us a chance. But who knows with Thiago?
“The other interesting evolution is at full-back. Klopp’s decided that he needed to get the most out of Alexander-Arnold. He’s such a generational talent. Even an ultra offensive full-back role wasn’t getting the very, very best out of him. There were more ways to make him a more influential part of our game.
“We’ve seen that this season. It’s almost Pep-esque with the inverted full-back. He’s still playing on his right side, he’s not gone full Cancelo and switched over, but he’s kind of playing him as a midfielder without playing him as a midfielder.
“When we’re on the ball, he’ll still come wide, and he’s got that deadly delivery, so you do want him on the byline sometimes. But equally, he does have that eye for a pass and traits you’d typically associate with a midfielder. He’s looked very dangerous from those types of areas.”
Before his first season in charge of Bayern Munich in 2013/14, Guardiola famously made a “Thiago or no one” demand to the board; such was his desire to secure the Barcelona playmaker who knew his signature tactics inside out for an eventual £21.6million.
As such, it is fascinating to see the same player being so pivotal to Klopp, who has often been viewed as a sharp stylistic counterpoint to Guardiola throughout their rivalry.
Given Alexander-Arnold’s recent Cancelo stylings, it left Dom with an obvious question.
DF : "Do you think Guardiola has influenced Klopp a little bit, with how Alexander-Arnold and Thiago are so prominent?"
JM : "Yeah, probably, and it's a two-way street. The evolution of the hugely aggressive pressing and counter-pressing game made [Guardiola] change. You can't keep the ball as easily when you're up against those types of opponents. The role of the wingers has changed, you saw that process start to happen at Bayern, and it's definitely carried over to City.
"They'd be stupid not to learn from each other, and there definitely is an element of that. Whether Thiago necessarily sums it up, I don't know, but I do think with Alexander Arnold, and that kind of broader thinking of what you can do with a full-back is potentially the influence of Guardiola."
Do you think Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have influenced one another? Follow City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
