The new season is a few weeks old, there are still no fans inside stadia, and teams around the country have settled into the pattern of a fast turnaround of matches.
Things feel different. There will be no fans inside Anfield or other stadia in the Premier League for some time yet.
Every match is likely to be televised the longer that continues, though the pressure is mounting on the government to alter guidelines on coronavirus restrictions on fans attending matches.
Ultimately, the one thing that will stay the same from the last two seasons is that Liverpool and Manchester City are likely to be the two clubs most seriously battling for the title.
Freak results like Leicester netting five at the Etihad Stadium and Liverpool shipping seven at Villa Park will happen more frequently, but the two best teams in the country are expected to be there or thereabouts come the season's conclusion.
Liverpool had a good summer, signing Thiago Alcantara, Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas.
At Manchester City there were three significant additions. Nathan Ake was brought in to add much-needed strength in depth, while highly-rated Ferran Torres replaced Leroy Sane. Ruben Dias was signed for £65million at the back too.
In terms of the two squads, not a great deal has altered since last season, giving both Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola time to prepare for the new campaign with a background of relative stability, certainly in comparison to Chelsea, another team tipped by some to compete before a ball was kicked.
But it is by looking at the teams around the rest of the Premier League that a possible advantage for Liverpool over Guardiola’s side emerges.
On the Analysing Anfield podcast, David Hughes said: "You look at the teams in the top 10 and they all seem capable of bringing in marquee names, and I think it would be really difficult to name the top eight or nine this season.
"That means it will be a lot more difficult to get those wins and another 90+ points campaign."
Josh Williams added: "The crucial thing to note is the stability that is currently in the league.
"Quite a few of the teams have had the same person in charge for at least a season.
"Look at Southampton with Ralph Hasenhuttl, Arsenal with a fresh run with Mikel Arteta, Brendan Rodgers has been at Leicester for a season and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a full year at United.
"It’s Jose Mourinho’s first full season, it’s Carlo Ancelotti’s first full season, Leeds United have had Marcelo Bielsa for two seasons already, and Brighton have a season behind Graham Potter now.
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"There is going to be a stronger league and that does benefit Liverpool as opposed to Man City.
"City’s game is more about ‘we will dominate you’ and you cannot always do that against good sides and good players.
"With Liverpool, they will retreat for 20 minutes and just get the result over the line."
Last season, Liverpool won by a single goal in the Premier League on 14 occasions, while City scored 17 more goals than the Reds overall, scoring eight against Watford in September and winning by a five-goal margin five times, only to finish 18 points behind.
If the quality is indeed higher around the Premier League, as appears to be the case, then that may suit Liverpool the most - even though another freak result cannot be entirely ruled out.
Couple that with the arrival of a world-class midfielder in Thiago, and Jurgen Klopp's Reds have a significant advantage at the top.
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