"I don't look at the table. You [only] need to look at the table at the end of the season."
That was Virgil van Dijk's message to Liverpool fans on this day last year and the sentiment has clearly not changed for those among Jurgen Klopp's squad.
Of course, the Reds were in a very different position at the time having won 23 of their 24 games in the top flight while amassing a 19-point gap ahead of City and having the likes of Van Dijk fit top play.
However, despite the fact they're fourth after 20 games this term and looking at City in pole position with a four-point lead and game in hand, the world-class centre-back's message has continually echoed from his team-mates and manager.
As Jurgen Klopp said last year after the frustrating stalemate at Newcastle when Liverpool were still top: "The last thing that I think about is our position in the table. It's nice but it doesn't matter at this stage of the season."
And as captain Jordan Henderson explained after the Reds moved top of the Premier League table with a win over Tottenham at Anfield in December: "We focus on ourselves. It might give them a dent but it is more about us. Our focus has to be on the next weekend."
For fans at any stage of the season, the table is domestic football's showpiece - a true indicator of the current standing for any team and an easy metric to use for declaring dominance or hiding away in hope of better days.
There is no reason why that should change, just because football's elite say they don't pay attention to it, but learning from stars of the game and the messages they put out about this is important too.
For Liverpool supporters particularly this season, things have not been easy.
The injury situation and fluctuation in performances has seen the Reds' league position rise and fall too often, despite two trophy-laden and dominant campaigns in the last two years.
It has led to many crisis talks among the devoted fanbase about what the club needs to do to get back on track and rise up the table but as the greatly adored manager, captain and world-class centre-back have explained - focusing on the next game is more important.
Not getting carried away and concentrating too much on the current standings will help bring out the best performances week after week and a more positive league position will naturally follow.
Fans will just have to hope that mantra helps the Reds return to the summit at the business end of the campaign and at this point there's not much reason to suggest why it won't benefit Liverpool, because if it's good enough for the highly-decorated Van Dijk, Henderson, Klopp and co, it should be good enough for everyone.
