MO SALAH was there, in a blue Chelsea shirt, the last time we reached this point.
Liverpool closing in on a Premier League title only for Chelsea to rock up at Anfield with ruinous intent.
This time, Salah has been thrust on to centre stage in a way he could never have imagined.
When racist Chelsea supporters shamed their club yet again by singing ‘Salah is a bomber’ in a Prague bar on Thursday night, Liverpool were quick to issue an official statement condemning those morons for ‘dangerous and disturbing’ behaviour.
The Reds have come a long way since their players warmed up in Luis Suarez tribute T-shirts after the Uruguayan was accused of racially abusing Patrice Evra in 2011.
This time, there are no grey areas. This time, they are firmly in the right.
There is likely to be defiance and some justifiable anger towards Chelsea fans from home supporters on Sunday afternoon.
There will also be strident support for Salah, the reigning Premier League Golden Boot winner and Footballer of the Year.
As the ghost of Demba Ba enters this thrilling title race, Liverpool v Chelsea will be pivotal again, just as it was in 2014.
The image of Steven Gerrard slipping on his backside will be everywhere – and how rival fans have enjoyed singing a gloating a refrain about that season-defining incident over the previous five years.
There is likely to be defiance and some justifiable anger towards Chelsea fans from home supporters on Sunday afternoon.
Dave Kidd
Back then, Jose Mourinho sent out a makeshift Blues side to win 2-0 at Anfield and go a long way towards handing the 2014 Premier League title to Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City – captain Gerrard falling, and Senegalese striker Ba capitalising by netting the opener just before half-time.
Ba, now plying his trade with Basaksehir in Turkey, has his moment of English footballing folklore.
But more to the point is that Chelsea are unbeaten at Anfield in their last eight visits – an extremely unusual run, given that meetings between top-six clubs tend to be dominated by home wins.
The Demba Ba match was the second in that streak – meaning that no current Chelsea player has ever lost at Anfield as a Blues player.
So this feels like a crucial psychological barrier to overcome for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team, who have shown a rare mental fortitude of late.
Lady Luck may have paid back Liverpool in spades for that Gerrard slip as succession of opposition goalkeepers – most recently Fulham’s Sergio Rico and Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris – have lined up to chuck in late goals and hand them wins.
After a wobble which saw four draws in six games, Klopp’s men have the machete back between their teeth and are going to the wire against Pep Guardiola’s City in a high-stakes duel with no room for error.
This is Liverpool’s most difficult remaining fixture. Indeed, it’s the only one in which you could easily imagine them dropping points.
City must host Tottenham and visit Manchester United during the next 12 days, so despite their slender ‘advantage’ – two points behind with a game in hand – so far it is neck-and-neck without a choke in sight.
Chelsea have been largely unimpressive since a fine early-season run, which included an Eden Hazard-inspired victory at Anfield in the League Cup in September.
But Maurizio Sarri is back from the brink, he’s belatedly began to embrace Chelsea’s young double-barrelled crowd favourites, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
And this is one occasion where the long stretches of (sometimes pointless) possession football, which has made Sarri-ball so frustrating for Chelsea players and fans alike, might just help.
An edgy home team in a crucial game will always want to settle their nerves by having plenty of the ball. Against Chelsea that is never easy.
And then of course there is Hazard, whose bravura performance against West Ham on Monday night, suggests he is determined to leave Stamford Bridge on a high.
When Mourinho scuppered Liverpool’s last title tilt five years ago, the match was sandwiched between the two legs of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
He included a veteran Mark Schwarzer in goal, youngster Tomas Kalas in defence and a struggling Premier League rookie who’d arrived from Egypt via Basel.
Salah was struggling for self-confidence back then but that won’t be a problem on Sunday – especially with the home support roaring on Salah louder than ever.
Nobody at Liverpool needed any extra motivation for this one, but they have it now nevertheless.
If Salah isn’t Sunday’s match-winner, it would be a genuine surprise.
