Liverpool have taken just three games to make it clear that every single point dropped by their rivals will be a wound to any hopes they harbour of taking the Premier League title away from Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp’s champions have used two of their opening three matches to impose their iron will on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Arsenal here at Anfield, already establishing themselves as the team to beat with the season in still in its infancy.
Manchester City, rightly, are regarded as the side most likely to mount a challenge to Liverpool but old frailties and a few new ones surfaced in their embarrassing 5-2 capitulation at home to Leicester City on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola hopes he has plugged the gaps that hurt City so badly in nine league defeats last season by adding £65m Ruben Dias from Benfica to £41m signing from Bournemouth Nathan Ake at the heart of his defence.
Whether Dias is the answer remains to be seen but there is a vulnerability about City, a sense they can be got at, which simply does not exist in a Liverpool side that holds psychological as well as footballing supremacy over their opponents.
When City went behind against the Foxes they fell apart in a shambolic display. When Liverpool went behind here they flew at Arsenal, almost insulted at the perceived slight. It was not long before they were ahead.
Could anyone seriously imagine Liverpool being as vulnerable to pressure in defence as Manchester City were last season and again on Sunday? It is possible but highly unlikely – and pretty much unthinkable as any sort of regular occurrence.
Liverpool are throwing down the challenge to their rivals already. Can you live with us? Can you afford to drop any points? Each point dropped will increase the pressure.
Who can actually live with them?
Leicester City and an Everton side revitalised under the management of Carlo Ancelotti have looked superb in these opening games but it stretches realism to breaking point to suggest they will keep pace with Liverpool – this is not an insult to those two teams who have started so impressively and with such verve, simply a statement of fact.
City and Guardiola have an awful lot riding on Dias, Chelsea and Manchester United look miles off being challengers, Spurs are already falling back and Arsenal had the gulf between the sides exposed right in front of them in Monday’s 3-1 win.