Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool are edging closer to the form that saw them win the Premier League title in 2020.
The table-toppers are the only unbeaten team left in the division and are aiming to extend their stretch to 19 games in all competitions when Manchester City visit on Sunday.
After a year that was plagued by injuries to key men, Klopp feels his side are finally getting back to the level they were at in 2019/20 when they won the title by a record 18 points.
And after blasting in 20 goals in all competitions in September, the Reds boss stated that a full pre-season schedule for many of his big names has been fundamental to the impressive start.
"It's the entire package but the pre-season helped massively because all the players were involved in the pre-season," Klopp said.
"That has helped so far and will do in the future across the rest of the season. I have spoken plenty of times about how it can create a physical basis as well. That is good.
"At the moment, apart from Brentford, we are quite stable defensively, which means we work really together as a defensive unit.
"The offensive players defend too, so if we have to defend deep, we do, or if we can press high, we do. So it is clear what we do.
"Last year we lost rhythm because we lost centre-halves and had to play midfielders in the last line of defence and all of a sudden, nothing is like it was before.
"And what we did before was really good because that is why we won the league in the way we did it.
"All of a sudden, in the middle, you need to reinvent your game and that takes time, obviously.
"We needed that time to adapt to our existing qualities now and it took time. Now we are not back to where we were but a little more to the side.
"We changed some things, but we are much closer to what we did before than we were last year, so that means we have stability.
"And when you have stability you feel more freedom for the offensive stuff and when you have that, you can become more dangerous in situations to score more often.
"But to be honest, when people told me we had scored 20 goals in September, it didn't feel like it. I am really positive but I have a lot of chances that I think about that we missed.
"It's not like I want 40 goals but it is just that we are not even close to what we think is exactly like it should look.
"We take it game by game, play as well as we can, analyse that and use the information we find in it to carry on."
Asked about the threat Pep Guardiola's City will pose on Sunday, he added: "First of all, the best way to defend is to keep the ball, which is what Man City do so well. They have a big percentage of possession and stuff like that.
"Then they have exceptional counter-pressing impulses, which helps as well. If they lose the ball, they win it back pretty early, so that helps. On top of that, they are organised differently.
"Against us they have defended in a 4-4-2 even if they are offensively in a different system. So that helps in the specific areas to close the opponent down.
"On top of that, they have exceptional individual quality in different positions, so that helps with defending and they have a goalkeeper - if you can get through - who is still a world-class keeper.
"So that all makes it a really interesting mix I would say, that's why they won quite a few Premier League titles in the last few years.
"It's a clear idea, with a clear structure with some changes from time to time. Sometimes last year they were defending in a 4-4-2 with Kevin De Bruyne and so on.
"Let's see if they do it differently this year. It's not only us who had a day or two more to prepare for the game, they have had it too.
"So let's see what Pep is doing, we will see.
"But the main thing is to keep the ball as long as possible and it gives teams obviously no chance because they don't have the ball."
