The next week will in some ways be demoralising for Liverpool regardless of what happens on the pitch.
This lunchtime comes the trip to Manchester City, with whom the Reds fought tooth and nail with for the Premier League title in three of the previous four seasons but now stand a whopping 19 points ahead in the table.
On Tuesday is a visit to Chelsea, the Londoners already enthused for a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, the team Jurgen Klopp's side succumbed to in meek fashion in the last round of the competition.
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And the following Sunday sees Liverpool entertain Arsenal, who failed to finish in the top four last season but are now runaway leaders with only a monumental collapse preventing them from winning their first championship in 19 years.
The Gunners, of course, will hope the the Reds can edge them that bit nearer the crown by preventing second-placed City from closing the gap at the top to five points with just 10 games to play.
Liverpool, though, have rarely been in the business of doing favours for others, their victory over Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the season in 1995 the ultimate example with Manchester United subsequently unable to take advantage of the gift handed to them.
Other teams will have to look after themselves. And that is exactly the approach the Reds must take as they look to achieve a top-four finish and Champions League qualification as unlikely as the one secured two years ago.
Sure, Tottenham Hotspur, the team currently in fourth place, are in a state of flux with Antonio Conte having talked his way out of a job in sheer frustration, director of football Fabio Paratici banned from football-related activities, injuries mounting and the likes of Richarlison having to dismiss suggestions of dressing-room mutiny.
Okay, Newcastle, perhaps the favourites to snatch the final Champions League qualification berth due to their games in hand, are in danger of being stymied by a lack of firepower that has seen them score just seven Premier League goals since Boxing Day.
And, yes, both Brighton and Brentford don't possess the squad depth or overall experience of challenging for the top four and would arguably be delighted with a European place in any competition.
There are clear shortcomings in all of Liverpool's main rivals. None of that, though, will count for anything unless Klopp's side can become responsible for their own destiny and grasp the opportunities to earn what history indicates are the 26 points from the final 36 available to given themselves a fighting chance of a Champions League spot.
That starts at the Etihad this afternoon, which will see an unnecessary - at least for Liverpool - throwback to the earlier years of Klopp's tenure when the Reds were a sizeable inconvenience rather than direct rival to City. Andy Robertson has already irked Rodri when playing for Scotland against Spain in midweek, and the Reds must be pests all around the pitch to unsettle Pep Guardiola's team.
At least Liverpool make the journey to the champions with a stronger squad than at any other time in the campaign, Thiago Alcantara the only long-term senior absence. The return to full training of Luis Diaz, even if he won't be available for the squad, will lift spirits, while Diogo Jota, after his own lengthy injury absence, is surely now primed to end a goal drought that stretches back to the 2-2 draw at City almost 12 months ago.
There are points to prove throughout the team, not least having had three weeks to ponder the dismal 1-0 reverse at relegation-threatened Bournemouth in their last Premier League outing. With 12 games to play in the next 58 days, there is no time for reflection - every second and every point is going to count. Any self-doubt or lack of confidence that has crept into the squad must now be banished.
Don't forget, it took Alisson Becker's never-to-be-forgotten injury-time header at West Bromwich Albion - the last-ever goal scored in lockdown football in England, trivia buffs - to help keep Liverpool on track for Champions League qualification in 2021. It may well require something just as remarkable and unexpected to achieve the job this time around.
Yes, the next week is an unwanted reminder of what might have been this season, and how Liverpool are mere potential party-poopers in the title race. But if the Reds are to finish in the top four, they can rely only on themselves. Nobody is going to help them.
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