The build-up to this midweek round of Premier League fixtures was dominated by talk of Liverpool's title push coming under a new sort of pressure.
For the first time since mid-December, the schedule showed reigning champions Man City contesting their latest league game before the Reds.
And with that trip to Newcastle United surely representing a guaranteed win, Jurgen Klopp’s side faced going into this evening’s meeting with Leicester City just a point ahead at the summit.
Even Klopp himself refused to countenance the idea of an unlikely Magpies victory over second-placed City when asked about the game at his pre-match press conference.
The German told reporters: “I said it a few times, I expect City to win every game. It makes sense that you think like this.
"I expect City to beat Newcastle, but I will still watch it because we play Newcastle as well."
But, incredibly, last night's game proved worth watching for the Liverpool manager even if he learnt nothing whatsoever about the hosts.
In boosting their own survival hopes with a come-from-behind 2-1 win, Newcastle helped push Liverpool ever closer to ending their 29-year wait for a top-flight title.
It will also have done little damage to the popularity of much-loved Magpies manager Rafael Benitez at Anfield, where he won an FA Cup and the Champions League in unforgettable fashion between 2004 and 2010.
Now, the Reds go into tonight's game against Leicester knowing that victory will see them restore the seven-point lead they held prior to their recent defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
Having enjoyed an 11-day break and a warm-weather training camp since their last outing, and with the talismanic Virgil van Dijk expect to return from illness, there will be no shortage of confidence that a win can be secured.
But with such a huge points advantage on offer, perhaps the pundits were right about that new sort of pressure - just not in the way many expected.
