History beckons for Liverpool on Saturday evening as they visit Tottenham Hotspur looking to secure the best-ever start in the 131-year history of English top-flight football.
A 20th victory from their 21st game of the campaign would secure that remarkable feat, but they come up against a familiar foe in Jose Mourinho, who has spoiled the Liverpool party on more than one occasion in the past.
Match preview
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Who else but Mourinho would be standing in the way of Liverpool and the extraordinary slice of history they could achieve on Saturday?
Rarely has a manager had such a storied rivalry with one particular club having never been in charge of them himself, from Luis Garcia's 'Ghost Goal' in the 2005 Champions League semi-final to Steven Gerrard's infamous slip towards the end of one of Liverpool's previous title challenges in 2013-14.
Mourinho versus Liverpool is almost as big an occasion as the team he is in charge of, with the Portuguese having faced the Reds 28 times throughout his career - more than he has faced any other club. Of those 28 games he has lost just seven, while in the Premier League he has lost only three of 17.
The three-time Premier League winner has never come up against a Liverpool team like this one, though, with Jurgen Klopp's side having picked up 58 points from the 60 on offer to build a commanding 13-point lead at the top of the table.
Only Manchester City's centurions of 2017-18 have ever fared as well after 20 games of an English top-flight season, but they drew game number 21. Victory for Liverpool would see them set a new benchmark of 61 points from a possible 63.
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Should they achieve that then they would have already surpassed their overall points tally from nine of their previous Premier League campaigns, but Klopp has repeatedly insisted that these records mean nothing to him.
Instead, his eyes are firmly on the prize which has eluded Liverpool since 1990, and it would take not only an unprecedented collapse but an entire reversal of the club's form over the past two years to deny them that 19th top-flight title now.
Indeed, talk has already turned to the possibility of an Invincible campaign rather than merely a title-winning one, and it is easy to see why considering Liverpool have overcome challenge after challenge this term - most recently winning every game bar the EFL Cup match in which they fielded an Under-23 side during a hectic December, despite a mounting injury list.
The Reds have continued that perfection into 2020 so far, utterly dominating Sheffield United in their last Premier League outing before embarrassing Merseyside neighbours Everton with a 1-0 FA Cup win despite again fielding a youthful side.
Liverpool have not even conceded a Premier League goal since Everton previously visited Anfield on December 2, keeping five top-flight clean sheets on the bounce having managed only two in their opening 15 games of the season.
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The numbers behind Liverpool's run are in danger of becoming normalised through overuse, but they are worth repeating again - 28 wins from their last 29 Premier League games, 37 top-flight matches unbeaten stretching back more than a year and 29 consecutive games in which they have scored.
The latter is a streak only two teams in Premier League history can beat and will be particularly concerning for a Spurs side that has only kept one clean sheet from their 12 matches under Mourinho so far.
Liverpool's clean sheet record will also be a worry with Spurs missing Harry Kane through injury for the foreseeable future, but few are better at devising tactical plans to keep a Liverpool side at bay than Mourinho.
Mourinho is one of only a handful of managers to have experienced something similar to the run Liverpool are on at the moment, having seen his 2005-06 Chelsea team reach 58 points in 21 games, and Spurs will be hoping that gives him some idea of how to stop the rampant Reds.
Spurs do not come into the game in particularly good form, though, winning just one of their last five outings across all competitions including a 1-1 draw at Championship side Middlesbrough in Sunday's FA Cup clash.
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Tottenham's last Premier League game saw them slump to a 1-0 defeat to Southampton - a result made all the more miserable by Kane's injury - and they subsequently sit six points off the pace in the battle for a Champions League spot.
Spurs have not lost back-to-back league games yet this season, though, while their home form is more encouraging - four wins from five under Mourinho, with the only exception being a 2-0 defeat at the hands of former club Chelsea.
However, those victories did all come in matches they were expected to win, and now they find themselves in danger of failing to win four games on the bounce across all competitions for the first time since November 2016.
For Liverpool this match is one of those which would have been earmarked as one of their toughest remaining tests this season, particularly coming as part of a double-header with Manchester United visiting Anfield next week.
The Reds were relentless while playing every three days or so over the festive period, though, while most of the first team will have had nine days to get ready for this match, meaning that they will be raring to go on their trip to North London.
Tottenham Premier League form: WWLWDL
Tottenham form (all competitions): WLWDLD
Liverpool Premier League form: WWWWWW
Liverpool form (all competitions): WWWWWW
Team News
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Spurs have confirmed that star striker Kane is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines after tearing his hamstring in the defeat to Southampton on New Year's Day.
Such a major blow has been slightly offset by Son Heung-min's return from suspension, although Mourinho hinted after the FA Cup draw with Middlesbrough that he does not see the Korean as a like-for-like replacement up front.
While Kane is Tottenham's headline absentee, he is by no means their only one; Moussa Sissoko has been ruled out for at least three months, Mourinho has cast serious doubt over the fitness of Tanguy Ndombele and Hugo Lloris, Danny Rose and Ben Davies all remain sidelined.
The likes of Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso and Harry Winks could all come back into the team as a result of the injury problems, while Mourinho must decide whether to field three at the back.
Doing so could provide extra protection against Liverpool's marauding full-backs, with Trent Alexander-Arnold (20) and Andrew Robertson (17) having contributed more Premier League assists than any other player since the start of last season.
Klopp is expected to welcome a host of first-teamers back into his starting lineup after they sat out last weekend's FA Cup win, including newly-crowned African Player of the Year Sadio Mane.
Liverpool could also be boosted by the returns of some players from injury, with Xherdan Shaqiri, Joel Matip and perhaps even Dejan Lovren set for fitness tests ahead of the trip to North London.
The one downside to the win over Everton was an injury to James Milner which threatens to keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future, adding to Liverpool's midfield shortage with Naby Keita and Fabinho also still unavailable.
Tottenham possible starting lineup:
Gazzaniga; Sanchez, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Aurier, Alli, Winks, Eriksen, Sessegnon; Son, Lucas
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Head To Head
Liverpool have enjoyed themselves in this fixture over recent years, losing just one of the last 16 meetings across all competitions stretching back to 2012.
Indeed, the Reds have won each of the last four games against Spurs, including their Champions League final triumph last season and a 2-1 victory at Anfield in October.
Kane scored the opener after less than a minute in that match, but goals from Jordan Henderson and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool come from behind to chalk up yet another win.
We say: Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool
A fully-fit Tottenham with Mourinho at the helm would be a very difficult away trip for Liverpool, and a match Spurs would be confident of getting something out of. However, the hosts are missing their captain, their main goalscorer and a host of other first-team players for the visit of a team in relentless form.
Liverpool have the chance to do something no other team in English top-flight history has ever done before on Saturday, and it is difficult to back against a team who only seem to know how to win at the moment.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a win with a probability of 48.06%. A win for had a probability of 30.65% and a draw had a probability of 21.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-3 (5.94%) and 0-2 (5.42%). The likeliest win was 2-1 (6.86%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (8.52%).
