August 26 2012 saw defending champions Manchester City come up against a Liverpool side that found themselves yet again in transition; this time young manager Brendan Rodgers had taken the helm of the rudderless vessel from Kop King Kenny Dalglish.
The initial optimism upon his arrival was rapidly evaporating after a 3-0 opening day drubbing away to West Brom and a summer transfer window that was to descend into a farce, Rodgers had to give sections of the Anfield faithful a cause for optimism.
That he did.
On the day Liverpool were classy and showed great fight; Martin Skrtel’s thunderous header and Luis Suarez’s laser guided costless-kick had the champions looking for answers, they had none.
That was until Martin Skrtel gift-wrapped a goal for Carlos Tevez in the last ten minutes of the game to give Manchester City a fortuitous point.
It was a dose a reality for Liverpool fans.
For all the high possession statistics and pass completion rates that Liverpool could point to and claim to match City there was one particular element that separated the two teams at the time: mentality.
That mental edge is what separates the great from the good, the winners from the also-rans, it’s what made Liverpool a borderline midtable team and Manchester City champions of England.
Part of that mentality is the ability to stay focused and maintain a high level of performance for 90 minutes consistently over 38 games; it’s what Liverpool lacked on the day it was partly why they had slumped since 2009.
Fast forward 18 months and there has been a cultural shift at Anfield, the focus has returned and as a consequence the quality has improved.
The credit must largely be attributed to Brendan Rodgers who has removed the culture of systematic underachievement and refocused the players to fight for every minute that they wear the Liverbird.
Rodgers however would no doubt be first to point out that the job done by FSG, Dr Steve Peters and all the backroom staff has been of equal importance, and he’d be right.
Standards have been raised all through the club and that is why going into Sundays clash against City, Liverpool are top of league.
Those improvements have seen that Liverpool lose only once at home this season so far, boast the best attack in England – and one of the best in Europe – and have helped in turning around their fortunes against rival teams.
Liverpool magician Luis Suarez is tangible evidence in the improvement in standards, prior to Rodgers arrival he was a maverick, a genius on the ball but someone who was prone to profligacy, now he is uttered in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi.
The high standards the Reds now set themselves must be maintained for Liverpool to triumph on Sunday and ultimately for them to achieve immortality by the end of May.