Brendan Rodgers is a much better manager now than he was when he departed Liverpool in 2015 - and indeed, had he not already had a spell at Anfield earlier in his career, would probably be among the leading contenders to take over from Jurgen Klopp.
Klopp will not be leaving any time soon, but the names that swirl around as long-term successors are already - quite rightly - being considered for when that time comes.
Crucial to the criteria for being a possible candidate to succeed Klopp is that the style of football is broadly similar to how Liverpool play now.
Julian Nagelsmann's RB Leipzig team for example, as Liverpool will experience first-hand next week, put him in the equation for many, while Steven Gerrard would always have been spoken about as a possibility, though even more so considering how his Rangers team set up tactically.
The job Rodgers has done at Leicester, had he not already had a go at the job at Anfield, would see him shortlisted on similar grounds - though that has arguably taken place not without the help of Klopp and one of his former members of staff, Pep Lijnders.
"Leicester are not a team who tends to dominate the ball - they are mid-table, maybe seventh or eighth for that," said David Hughes on the Analysing Anfield podcast.
"They are just fairly clinical when they get chances on the break and I watched the last eight goals they scored, and a lot came from counter-pressing moments.
"They come from turning the ball over quickly and they seem to be really clinical.
Listen to full Analysing Anfield podcast by clicking HERE
"They don't have a high volume of chances, which might make you think traditionally they are not a good side, but they are doing something right."
"I'm a big fan of how they recruit. Wesley Fofana has been great, James Justin has been a great signing and James Maddison has been playing a Kevin de Bruyne type role," added Josh Williams.
"Looking at how Klopp has managed Liverpool since Rodgers left, I think he has naturally looked over at Liverpool with intrigue.
"There are certainly areas that Klopp has mastered and in some, Rodgers fell short. For example, Liverpool's recruitment has been flawless, and while Rodgers was there, he was trying to have too much of a say.
"Liverpool have since signed better players and Rodgers has learned from Klopp that being a leader is about letting others do their jobs really well as much as wanting to be the man to do it all.
"And styles of play, Leicester are a lot more adaptable depending on what they need from a game. The Rodgers of the past would have gone into a game with Leeds trying to dominate the ball.
"Earlier in the season, he willingly accepted they would concede the ball, Leicester did them on the break, and they ended up winning 4-1.
"It takes me back to the Lijnders quote where he said Liverpool are able to change colours like a chameleon.
"In the past, I've said this has been the perfect fixture for Liverpool and last season Liverpool won 4-0 but things have changed since then - Liverpool are not the same team, but Leicester have also become a little bit more adaptable."
Rodgers has shown that while his teams play attacking and exciting, high-intensity football, he can also set them up pragmatically to get a job done against a specific opponent.
That is something that Klopp, Lijnders and the rest of the Liverpool backroom team have proven adept at, but something the Northern Irishman has struggled with until recently.
"Our identity has this variability. It’s like a chameleon: it changes colour but always knows it’s a chameleon! You need to know your own mind best, but learn in and from the game," was the Lijnders quote that sums it up.
Between the Dutchman, who worked with Rodgers for just over a year before the shake-up of October 2015, and Klopp, who arrived at Anfield then, Liverpool have grown significantly in that period.
But Rodgers has too as he put right his Liverpool mistakes, taking on the Reds this weekend as a very different manager - and one who has been shaped by watching and learning from his former club.
