Increasingly, it seems certain that player fitness and depth of squads are going to play a major part in separating the tightest Premier League title in years.

That said, primarily there is also the job to be done on the pitch. If Liverpool wanted to prove they are not going to relinquish their title without a fight, there is no doubt they needed to win this game against Spurs.

With confidence wobbling after their recent run, it was perhaps just as important as reducing the deficit behind Manchester City to four points, to put in a performance.

That they did, and unlike at Anfield in the reverse fixture only last month, there is no way that Jose Mourinho could have slunk off the field afterwards claiming the better team lost.

Slippery Sadio Mane was the difference, although it could have been all so different in the opening exchanges.

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On a different day in a different era, we could have had two goals in three minutes.