Away wins against 'big six' opposition, the tallest of Premier League orders, should go down as champions' results.
Even though they would have remained top regardless of the outcome, it felt crucial that Liverpool beat Chelsea on Sunday, particularly after Manchester City issued an alarming, eight-goal reminder of their unprecedented class 24 hours earlier.
The Reds amassed 97 points in 2018/19 yet only picked up six from a possible 15 away at their biggest rivals. City, on the other hand, managed to collect 10 in the corresponding fixtures. In a title race bound to once again be decided by fine margins, this is a key battleground.
Liverpool are a class above four of the top six teams but struggled to illustrate that last term, notably allowing a lead to slip against Arsenal and turning in a lacklustre performance at Old Trafford.
The three points at Stamford Bridge, then, were clearly significant.
But if Jurgen Klopp's side want further spoils from North London and Manchester, they will have to play an awful lot better.
Reds should have been punished
The case might be made that Chelsea, who had a greater share of the possession and of the gilt-edged chances, deserved to win the game.
The reality, though, is that they were the architects of their downfall with non-existent marking at one end and a lack of composure at the other.
Still, Liverpool can count themselves fortunate after losing control of a game they comfortably led in the second half.
So often their game-management is top-drawer, but on this occasion, it deserted them.
Time and again the Blues could arrow balls into their advanced full-backs and have hearts in mouths with dangerous deliveries.
Then, when the visitors had the ball, they gave it away far too easily as Chelsea hustled and harried, the eventual passes largely ill-judged.
The midfielders were, as you would expect, the chief culprits in this failure to reassert dominance. They needed to slow the tempo of what became a breathless encounter.
Not until Andrew Robertson was able to surge upfield in stoppage time and win a free-kick beyond halfway could supporters afford to relax.
There's no denying that top teams need to 'win ugly' at times, and we can file this one under that category, but if Liverpool play like this at Arsenal, Manchester City or Tottenham, with the atmosphere similarly raucous, they can't expect the same outcome.
Leading-up to the game, Klopp faced questions over his side's relatively poor record in these fixtures, and though his team responded with victory, the concerns will not be assuaged until they deliver a more comprehensive performance.
That doesn't mean a brutal goalscoring frenzy, it means taking the lead and then proceeding to play with the swagger of would-be title winners, leaving the opposition more frustrated than hopeful.
The juggernaut marches on
An uninspiring display resulted in a win, a more regular occurrence for this Liverpool team than one might realise.
Klopp's first years at the helm saw swings from the sublime to the ridiculous but with hindsight you can detect a marked and fruitful change in approach ahead of the 18/19 season.
The German sacrificed a portion of the spectacular in favour of a greater efficiency, and that efficiency has now developed into a relentlessness.
Liverpool have made a remarkable habit of finding a way to win in any circumstances.
In fact, they've now rattled off 15 league wins in succession, leaving them only three shy of the all-time record set, incidentally, by City in 2017.
Beat Sheffield United and Leicester and this group of history-makers can reach that milestone away to Manchester United on October 20 - some prospect.
The Red Devils' top-six status may even be under threat based on the early evidence but you can still bet that they'll find another level against their greatest rivals. Derby games are notorious for defying the formbook.
It was a fixture in which Liverpool stumbled last season and once again it will be telling. Will they send out the kind of booming statement they couldn't quite muster at the Bridge by passing the test with flying colours?
This is the level of expectation we ought to be placing on a group more than capable of becoming one of the league's greatest.