Liverpool have not performed at the level they were at last season at all on a consistent basis during this campaign, but the reasons for that are clear.
With so many injuries, Jurgen Klopp’s squad has been decimated, left without several key men, and the knock-on effect of that has been significant.
But up until the last four Premier League games, Liverpool had largely been getting the job done - winning games and getting results at least keeping them within touching distance of the top, even without playing to their absolute best.
That was often down to a run of form from an individual, with Diogo Jota, for instance, netting nine goals before his knee injury, and Curtis Jones and Gini Wijnaldum playing perhaps the best football of their careers at times.
As Dan Morgan outlined on the latest Liverpool.com podcast, Liverpool could do with one of those players - though Jota, Klopp confirmed on Wednesday, is still a few weeks off being ready for more action - stepping up a gear in a similar manner to help ease them out of their slump, or, of course, someone else doing likewise.
" Liverpool have been relying on different bits of individual brilliance - one or two players doing something extremely well and the rest carrying," he said.
"It is the old ‘playing the piano and carrying it’ type of analogy.
"We have seen it throughout the season at different points - we had Jota, we have had Jones, Wijnaldum.
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"They, across three and four games runs, have said ‘I’m going to be the shining light here’ and be the architect.
"Across the league, players like Bruno Fernandes are making it feel like a season for the individual.
"Liverpool could do with someone stepping up to the plate for two or three games and with a player like Thiago Alcantara conducting as he did the other night, he could be the one.
"He just needs to get them by the horns for three games and say ‘this is what we’re doing’ - pulling others around him into a seven out of 10, which is maybe enough to get over the line."
‘Getting over the line’ seems an appropriate turn of phrase, with Liverpool knowing the teams around them have been picking up more points in recent weeks, dragging the Reds into a battle for even the top four as things stand.
With fixtures against Manchester United, Tottenham and Leicester on the horizon, while Man City face a relatively straightforward run until the pair clash at Anfield in mid-February, getting results and staying within touching distance will be crucial.
In this period of four or so weeks, Liverpool need results to come in the league to keep them in contention and avoid having play catch-up.
But for them to successfully do that, it might require someone to step up and drag the rest with them.
