It's no exaggeration to say that Liverpool will have a huge influence on the title race…and I can assure you, they will be furious about that.
I know there’s a saying which suggests ‘we can’t be heroes, someone has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by’, but honestly, there’s nothing worse as a pro with a big club, than sitting on that pavement.
It’s horrible. So horrible in fact, that when I once went out to Madrid to see my mate Steve McManaman win La Liga with Real, I got on the bus with his team when they paraded the trophy afterwards, rather than clap them as they came by!!
Jurgen Klopp’s team will hate this week for that reason. Yes, beating Arsenal after losing to Manchester City could be a decisive moment in the destination of the Premier League trophy.
But that will stick in their throat. I know, I was there often enough with Liverpool when Manchester United were winning all those titles. Honestly, it knocks you sick. It happened to me too many times.
The year we so brilliantly beat Newcastle 4-3 and then drew at Coventry a few days later, to blow our challenge, that was gut wrenching. We were all like, ‘Wow. How he hell did that happen?’ In and out of the title race in a few days, with so many questions about inconsistency.
We lost to United at home in 1997 when a win would have put us firmly in the title race. Instead, they were effectively winning the league on our ground with a 3-1 victory, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt worse after a game, aside from the serious injuries I suffered.
I know the current Liverpool lads well enough to know they will feel - as a team that has been so massively, magnificently involved in three title races in the previous four years - beating Arsenal should be helping them win the trophy, not City.
They’ve under-achieved massively this season, and the inconsistency we had when I was at Liverpool. I’ve said in this column why I think that has happened, and you can’t underestimate the impact changing the forward line has had.
But there’s another factor too. Virtually every time they’ve gone behind, or the game goes against them, they’ve just folded. That is so unlike Jurgen Klopp’s team, so far away from his mentality which has been so relentless.
It happened again at City, just as it did against Real Madrid, and that’s a massive worry. If they don’t have mental strength, they can’t win anything, it’s that simple in football.
Irrespective of that result at the Etihad, they still desperately need a victory against Arsenal - not to influence the title race, but to influence their own futures at Anfield.
I don’t think I’m being dramatic if I say that should Liverpool fail to qualify for the Champions League next season, then it will damage the club, both in terms of finances, and in terms of the players who may leave.
I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the likes of Salah and van Dijk thought they need to be playing in the elite European competition at their age, and can’t waste a single season out of it. I’m not saying they’d want to go, but it will be a question they may ask themselves.
But even more worrying, is the fact that losing out on Champions League money could seriously damage their ability to compete in the summer transfer market.
Can you say hand on heart that, say, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount would want to miss out on the Champions League. And with the likes of City and Real Madrid also in for those players, it ties Liverpool’s gloves behind their back, in what is already a pretty unfair financial fight.
So pride will play a part in Liverpool’s approach to the Arsenal game, a now seismic game next weekend. But so too will cold reality, as a squad. Every player at that club will now be wondering what happens if they miss out on the top four.
But there’s one way to stop that worry from nagging at that - take the challenge in their own hands, sort out their own destiny and turn around this alarming form this season, to prove they can be the heroes marching past once more, not the also-rans with their a***** on the pavement.
