It was an illusion which survived not much more than 45 minutes, by which time Manchester City had taken the lead at Burnley. Nevertheless, in the battle of mind games which characterise the best title duels, it remained a significant moment nonetheless. Liverpool, briefly, were top of the table.

‘We shall not, we shall not be moved,’ chanted the Kop and the fact they were, very shortly after they sung that, did not mean their confidence was overplayed. Momentum is everything in title run-ins and Liverpool undoubtedly have it. Roll on next Sunday and the Etihad title showdown between the two leading teams.

At the end, Jurgen Klopp did his fist-clenched celebration thing in front of the Kop, milking the applause and leading the roars. ‘It was nothing to do with being top of the league,’ said Klopp, wearing his big grin. ‘I didn’t think about that. But we can’t give an inch. To keep in the title race we have to win our games. The next game is a big one, we can’t hide from that.’

No one dreamed of this back in January, when Liverpool were 14 points behind City. They had games in hand but such has been the relentless domination of Liverpool and Manchester City these past five years, that it was hard to conceive Pep Guardiola’s team could concede such a lead.

This is the era of 100 points being normal; a period of history when winning 10 straight Premier League games, as Liverpool have done since the turn of the year, seems almost unremarkable. City, by contrast, have disintegrated. By which we mean they drew at Southampton and Palace and lost to Tottenham.

Klopp can be tetchy at times but here he was all smiles and uber cool. He exudes calm as the most intense weeks of the season loom large. ‘I really appreciate the situation we’re in,’ he said. ‘I said to the boys on Friday, the first time we are all together, if someone had told us in the summer that we in early April [would be] in the situation we are in: in all the competitions, won one trophy and have a full squad available… we all would have taken it. Absolutely.