Monday 1 May 2017 19:02, UK
Liverpool travel to Watford on Monday Night Football with a top-four finish still in sight, an achievement that would represent significant progress this season under manager Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp replaced Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager on October 8, 2015 with the Reds sitting 10th in the table after winning just three of their opening eight Premier League games.
The German went on to lead Liverpool to an eighth-placed finish last season, while he also guided the club to the final of the League Cup and the Europa League.
If you had given Liverpool fans this situation at the beginning of the season, 90 per cent of them would have taken it
This campaign, however, the former Borussia Dortmund coach been able to make his own signings, and a full pre-season to work with his squad.
So as Klopp prepares to take his side to Vicarage Road, the scene of a shambolic 3-0 defeat in December 2015, we look at where Liverpool have improved this season, and what areas they still need to work on before they can seriously challenge for the title…
If Liverpool win their four remaining league matches, starting at Watford tonight, they will finish with a total of 78 points, a haul they have only bettered on four occasions in the Premier League.
Meanwhile, the Reds are collecting on average 1.9 points per game under Klopp this season compared to the 1.6 they won in the last campaign.
As part of that improved form in the league this season, Klopp's team have bettered their remarkable record from the previous campaign against the Premier League's current top six.
Last time out under the German, the Reds only lost to Manchester United, while this season they are unbeaten in 10 league meetings against their fellow Champions League-chasing rivals, the only side to do that.
Liverpool have been far more consistent in the league this season than last under Klopp.
Apart from an early defeat at Burnley, the Reds went unbeaten until going down 4-3 at Bournemouth in December.
But while Klopp's side did endure a lean start to 2017, including damaging reverses to struggling Swansea City and Hull City, they did then recover to get their top-four hopes back on track.
In stark contrast, last season the Reds went from winning at Chelsea and Man City one week, to being humbled at eventually relegated Newcastle United and Watford the next as the players tried to acclimatise to the demands of their new manager.
There is no doubt that when Klopp has a fully-fit squad to pick from, he knows what his best line-up is.
The Reds boss has decided who his No 1 goalkeeper is and following Joel Matip's summer arrival and James Milner's conversion to left-back, Liverpool's back five has a far more settled look to it.
Meanwhile, the £34m purchase of Southampton forward Sadio Mane last June has also seen Klopp able to select a devastating attacking front six - when all available.
However, a surprise 2-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace in their most recent league outing has put Liverpool's hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League in jeopardy.
Ultimately, though, were the Reds to miss out on a place in Europe's premier club competition, on the back of seeing a title challenge built up over the first half of the campaign implode in January, then questions will be asked of Klopp.
And those would focus on the following areas that still need addressing this summer if the German is to bring silverware to the Anfield trophy room during his time on Merseyside...
Despite bringing in Matip, Mane, Georginio Wijnaldum, Marko Grujic, Loris Karius and Ragnar Klavan to bolsten his squad last summer, Klopp has once again found himself short of numbers following a recent spate of untimely injuries.
Trailing against Palace last weekend, the Reds boss was only able to call upon Joe Gomez, Grujic, Alberto Moreno, Ben Woodburn, Trent Alexander-Arnold and 17-year-old Rhian Brewster to make an impact from the bench.
While Liverpool's slip-ups against teams in the bottom half of the table last season could be put down to Klopp still getting used to the unique demands of the Premier League, as well as his new players, the German cannot use that as an excuse this time around.
As mentioned before, shock losses to Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea, Hull, Leicester City and Palace have cost the Reds - who were just six points behind Chelsea in second heading into 2017 - a shot at this season's title.
And any such repeats in their final four fixtures of the campaign against Watford, Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough will almost certainly see Champions League football slip through their grasp.
A recurring theme at Anfield throughout the season has been Liverpool's struggles from set pieces, a weakness that Palace again exposed to score their winner last Sunday.
Whatever combination of defenders and 'keeper Klopp has selected, they have looked far from convincing when dealing with set plays, with the Reds having conceded 12 goals (excluding penalties) in this manner this campaign.
However, this is not a new problem for Liverpool - who conceded 13 times from set pieces last season - although it is one they will need to find a fix for if further progress is to be seen going forward.
They have, however, conceded on average 1.24 goals per game this campaign compared to the 1.33 they conceded under Klopp last season.
At a crucial juncture of the campaign, Liverpool have suffered a series of debilitating injuries that have seen captain Jordan Henderson, Mane, Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana sidelined for the run-in.
The same happened this time last season to scupper the club's chance for Europa League glory, and with the Reds having also sustained injuries earlier in the campaign to their influential centre-back duo of Matip and Dejan Lovren, questions have again been raised of Klopp's training regime.
Charlie Nicholas: "I do no think it is dramatic (progress). But if you are looking at their points difference from last season, I think you are talking at least 12 plus points ahead of where they are, which in relative terms for the Premier League is a big jump."
Matt Le Tissier: "I think there has been good improvement at Liverpool this season. They were obviously much better in the cup competitions last season, they got to a couple of cup finals, so on that front they would have been a little bit disappointed.
"If you had given Liverpool fans this situation at the beginning of the season, 90 per cent of them would have taken it. So I think there has been definite improvement there.
"But they have to go and finish it off. They have put themselves in the position and now they must make sure they get that Champions League spot."
Having finished eighth in the previous campaign and then been forced to compete last summer with rivals like United and City, who both had far greater financial resources, then finishing in the top four this time around would represent a season of huge progress for Klopp.
All of which makes Liverpool's four remaining league games, which will decide whether the club qualifies for next season's Champions League, hugely significant encounters.
