Liverpool’s run of fixtures going into the Christmas period was encouraging, particularly as it came on the back of their 7-0 annihilation of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
That result in South London seemed significant because all the forwards utilised by Jurgen Klopp contributed in one way or another against the Eagles.
Sadio Mane finally ended a nine-game goal drought in all competitions and set up another, Roberto Firmino netted two in a league game for the first time since December 2019 and Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score twice and assist in 30 minutes after replacing the Senegal star.