With champion Liverpool on the ropes, Manchester City has the chance to knock Jurgen Klopp's side effectively out of the Premier League title race when the two teams meet at Anfield on Sunday.
City is beginning to look unstoppable, having won its last nine Premier League games while Liverpool's midweek defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion has left it seven points adrift.
Should City win on Sunday it would move 10 points clear of Liverpool having also played one game fewer and it is hard to imagine Klopp's spluttering side being able to bridge that gap.
"I'm the manager of Liverpool and you always ask -- as we were champions last year -- and I have to say 'oh my God, we want to be champions', yes we want it. But you need the games for it and you need the performances for it. And we don't have them. That's the truth as well," Klopp said as he looked ahead to the clash with City in the aftermath of defeat by Brighton.
Klopp, whose side is in danger of losing three successive league games at home having gone unbeaten in the previous 68, stopped short of saying defeat by City would make it impossible to win the title, but the sentiment was clear.
"We have to fight for other things. We fight for three points," the German, who hopes forward Sadio Mane will have recovered from injury and keeper Alisson from illness in time to face a rampant City, said.
A run of only two wins in its last eight league games has not only weakened Liverpool's grip on the title, but it could also find itself in a scrap just to finish in the top four.
It is four points behind second-placed Manchester United, which takes on sixth-placed Everton on Saturday, while Leicester City, which travels to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, is in third place, two points ahead of Liverpool.
West Ham United has also emerged as unlikely challengers for a top-four finish after new signing Jesse Lingard scored twice in its 3-1 win at Aston Villa on Wednesday, a result that lifted the Hammers into fifth place. A win at Fulham on Saturday would see them leapfrog Liverpool.
Arsenal will hope to bounce back from its midweek defeat by Wolves as it travels to Aston Villa for Saturday's early kickoff.
Bottom club Sheffield United is showing signs of life, however, having won three of its last five games including this week's 2-1 win at second-from-bottom West Brom.
Survival still looks like it would need a minor miracle as it is 11 points behind 17th-placed Burnley but a home victory over Chelsea on Sunday would fuel hope of a great escape.
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