Closing the gap to Manchester City has been the driving force behind Liverpool's Premier League challenge this season.
And a similar outlook has taken another Reds team to the brink of a glorious campaign.
While the senior sides battle it out in the top flight, youngsters from both sides meet at City's Academy stadium on Thursday night in the FA Youth Cup final.
Liverpool, under the guidance of U18s boss Barry Lewtas, will be looking to win the tournament for the fourth time having last triumphed in 2007.
And Lewtas believes there is a sense of destiny regarding the showdown between the North West rivals.
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“There is a rivalry which is commonplace now," he says. "City and Liverpool top of the league. Two big clubs and that does spread down to the Academy as well.
“There is a nice rivalry between the two groups. Maybe more so the second years in the group there has been a little bit of a more long-standing rivalry, a little bit more needle there.
“It is kind of like this tie was meant to be given everything else going on.”
The previous meeting between the teams this season saw Bobby Duncan score a dramatic late winner in a 1-0 Liverpool victory back in October.
Duncan, cousin of Steven Gerrard, arrived from City last summer and Lewtas believes it was the forward who unwittingly helped spark the depth of rivalry between the two groups.
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“It was probably Bobby who created the needle scoring the goals in the other games back in the U15 and U16s days,” says the U18s boss.
“It was my second game (at the Academy), on the back pitch and we lost to City. Bobby tells me he scored three, I can’t remember, I said he scored two!
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“We sat down as a group and said, this is the start. This is where we are. It was a heavy defeat from a real good team in City, and we had to try and build up.
“The City games were always benchmarks for us, all the way through U15s and U16s. They were THE game.
“And we got closer and closer and closer, and then when we got to U16s the tables started to turn slightly and the games became a lot more competitive.”
Asked if he would speak specifically to Duncan before the match, Lewtas responds: “Yeah, it probably will be something I think about.
“It’s not in the forefront of my mind, which I think it was earlier in the season when I had to make sure the build up wasn’t too much around him.
“You don’t want him to get caught up in the occasion, we want him to play the football he has played so far this season.”
While delighted to have reached the final, Liverpool are less than happy with the scheduling.
The Reds had to bring a premature end to a long-standing commitment in the Dallas Cup in the United States last week having been told by the Football Association the game had to take place on Thursday.
“We were unhappy, definitely,” said Lewtas. “We had to cut the Dallas trip short. We went there for a whole host of reasons, other than football.
“We played in the Cotton Bowl in front of 20,000 people in the first game which was a great experience, but we had lots of cultural and charity stuff over there too, and it was a shame that we had to cut that short.”
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Liverpool were originally due to return on Wednesday morning – less than 48 hours before the final – but instead came back last Saturday to prepare.
Since the tournament's inception in 1952, the final has been played over two legs. However, this year the showpiece will be a one-off, played at City's Academy stadium.
Lewtas has mixed emotions over the change. “I do agree the Youth Cup final should go to one leg because if it is on development then there are no other two legged finals anyway, so it is good for the boys to get used to a one-off final,” he says.
“Whether it should be played at someone’s home stadium I am not completely convinced.
“Would it make it sweeter to win? You would have to ask the lads that.”
Captain Paul Glatzel and goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros are both expected to be available after recent injuries.
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And Lewtas believes the final is an opportunity for the Liverpool youngsters to prove they have the winning mentality required at the club.
“Looking at the first team, second place is not what they are playing for,” he says. “They are trying to win the league and the Champions League.
“That is very much the message here: don’t settle, don’t be happy that you have got to a final. That is not the club you are at. We are in the final and we have to do our best to win and not fall short.
“We will not be a tourist there and think City are better than us.”
