Against Sunderland, Liverpool showed they can actually play the gritty side of the game and secure all three points. Against Brighton in the FA Cup, the Reds showed some of their former silkiness, winning 3-0 and showing some style.
Even with Arne Slot's side having made recent gains, this has been a sobering season for the Premier League champions, who find themselves in something of a dogfight.
A fight for Champions League football next season, and not the title they won at a canter last season. It goes without saying that the ramifications of missing out on Europe's elite competition would be steep.
So many issues have played into the decline. The flashy new recruits have struggled to blend in, though gains are now being made in that regard.
Ageing superstars have also struggled to reclaim their former form, and who typifies that more than Mohamed Salah?
Explaining Mohamed Salah's drop-off at Liverpool
It's fair to say that Salah played some pretty good football last season, practically dragging Liverpool to the Premier League title. It was Salah's season, and he has cemented his legacy as one of the division's greatest-ever players.
Mohamed Salah for Liverpool
Salah might have used up a lot of his remaining fuel, though, and at 33, Father Time is not on his side as an elite footballer. His performances this term have reflected this, and FSG are beginning to realise that they may need to sign an elite replacement this summer, especially with Federico Chiesa flattering to deceive.
When Salah penned a new record-breaking contract in April 2025, extending his deal to 2027, it was incomprehensible that he would be just one year away from being sold, but his drop-off has been so great that it seems wise to cash in if suitors from the Saudi Pro League come calling with their chequebooks out.
Salah - PL Form under Slot
Match Stats
Matches (starts)
Goals
Assists
Touches*
Shots (on target)*
Big chances missed
Accurate passes*
Big chances created
Key passes*
Succ. dribbles*
Ball recoveries*
Duels won*
Salah's decline has been exacerbated by the absence of his clinical ability. But even so, the Egyptian King has arrived at one of the final junctures in his Premier League journey.
However, he's not the only one, with another of Anfield's stalwarts set to leave at the end of the season.
Why Liverpool must part with Salah 2.0
Liverpool do have a number of veterans in their mix. Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker are no spring chickens, but both are continuing to perform well and will not be considering a step down any time soon.
However, the same can't be said for Andy Robertson, who is out of contract this summer and slipping down the pecking order.
Andrew-Robertson
Robertson arrived alongside Salah, both joining in the 2017 summer transfer. Both deals were met with bemusement from some of Liverpool's rivals, failing to see Jurgen Klopp's vision.
Klopp saw things that others didn't, though, and that £10m Scotsman from Hull City went on to become one of the greatest full-backs of his generation, once described as a "Duracell bunny" by Liverpool writer Leanne Prescott for his tireless running and tenacious attitude down the left channel.
However, while the Tartan Army captain, who is now 31, played a big role in Slot's title-winning campaign, there's no question he stood out as a weak link, less mobile than before and starting to see mistakes sneak into his game.
That Duracell bunny had seen his batteries depleted, and while he remains a top defender, it's fitting that Robertson should leave at the end of the season with full honours, with Milos Kerkez now going from strength to strength after his £40m transfer from Bournemouth last summer.
Liverpool's Milos Kerkez
While FSG will be thankful that they didn't cash in on the Scottish star when Tottenham offered a small sum to land him during the January transfer window, it's clear that to extend his deal would be a risk. Robertson, after all, has said that he "wants to play football" at this later stage of his career, and that's something that Slot cannot promise with the consistency that he perhaps deserves.
Robertson's decline has been less startling and sudden, but it is no less real, and while it's rueful to think that Anfield will wave goodbye to the popular left-back this summer, he must go, especially with Kerkez finding his feet at left-back.
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