The first six weeks of the season have seen Liverpool and Manchester City pick up where they left off; underlining their status as English football’s top two teams.
But there remains a crucial difference between the clubs, and it is often cited as the reason City should be expected to retain their Premier League title: squad depth.
The latest test of their respective strength in that regard comes this week, as the third round of the League Cup gets under way.
For City, a meeting with Preston North End represents a chance to make full use of their enviable collection of international-class players, some of whom have played little football thus far.
Things are a little bit different for Liverpool, though.
The Reds were expected to exploit the improved standing brought about by Champions League victory in order to build a squad capable of matching Guardiola’s this summer.
Instead, they spent nominal sums in bringing two teenagers and a back-up goalkeeper to Anfield - an approach that should be evident in their starting line-up at MK Dons.
However, that was all part of the plan according to assistant boss Pepijn Lijnders, who is excited by the opportunity awaiting the club’s young players on Wednesday evening.
He said: “We consciously decided to have a small squad, because we want to promote young players and we want to create this culture.
“If you create a big squad it will not happen, if you create a squad with talent around, these talents will get opportunities.
“That’s also really important to understand, we are creating a new generation, we try to create a new generation.
“I think it’s really important to have an inside pathway to promote young players, to give them opportunities.”
Of course, while the likes of Rhian Brewster, Curtis Jones and Caoimhin Kelleher are all expected to feature at Stadium MK, these young talents won’t be left to fend for themselves.
Lijnders expects a sprinkling of seniority throughout Jurgen Klopp’s line-up, which he believes will provide a perfect platform for the less experienced players.
He added: “I don't believe in just giving opportunities, it has to be the right opportunity at the right time with the right players.
“Because young players need examples around them, they need models and they need to be able to compete.
“If we need to put young players in a game with senior players around them, that's the perfect way to develop. First, they can see and are protected.
“So, say we play a left winger, a young one, and our left defender or left midfielder is a senior player, that triangle on that side, he gets protected of course.
“Like I said, young players they need models, they need players around them where they can learn from instead of criticism.
“That's what I really like about these moments in the season and that we can create a combination of this: one, the hunger to win and second, because it creates development, it makes our young players stronger.
“Again, it's not always about opportunities, it's the right moments, the right context, in the right collective with the right players around them.”
