There are ten points between Chelsea and Liverpool and, in terms of consistency this season, a gulf exists between the two sides.
Chelsea have been ruthlessly efficient as Antonio Conte positioned the Blues beautifully for Premier League glory while Jurgen Klopp has seen his season fall asunder in a matter of days.
Liverpool need a victory. They need one badly.
And if they concede defeat to the ruthless Chelsea at Anfield on Tuesday night, they could find themselves without a trophy to fight for this season as thirteen points would be a pretty daunting deficit to overturn.
That's not saying that Liverpool lack quality. It's just that some of it has been tied up in that AFCON nonsense.
Here's our combined XI of Liverpool and Chelsea players based on this season's form.
Thibaut Courtois
Easy!
Klopp has already been forced to drop Loris Karius for the notoriously unreliable Simon Mignolet between the sticks while Thibaut Courtois, thanks in no small part to the solidity of his defenders, has made very few mistakes this season.
On his day, Courtois can be world class while we're not so sure the same could be said for either of Liverpool's goalkeeping options.
David Luiz
Chelsea supporters wouldn't exactly want to see David Luiz as the last man when an opposition striker is bounding down on goal as the Brazilian is liable to do anything. Literally anything.
But he's applied himself admirably since returning to Stamford Bridge and seems to have found a new lease of life under Conte.
He's a ball-playing centre-half which is all the rage nowadays and he's certainly deserving of a place over the likes of Dejan Lovren or Ragnar Klavan.
Joel Matip
The results speak for themselves.
Before Joel Matip's injury and subsequent row with the Cameroon Football Federation, Liverpool were loving life and competing on all three fronts for silverware.
The same can't be said today and a lot of it has come due to the absence of a dependable man at the back as Liverpool have been leaking goals in recent weeks.
Matip looks the real deal and now that he's been restored to Klopp's back four, he should provide that much-needed solidity required to get their season back on track.
Cesar Azpilicueta
An unsung hero who is too often left dry amid the showering of plaudits over Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, Azpilicueta is enjoying the best season of his life.
"Costa and Hazard get the limelight but he's basically a right back and a centre half," Chelsea legend
Frank Lampard said of the Spaniard in the Daily Mail last weekend. "He is tailor-made for that role. He's probably been player of the season."
Victor Moses
Who'd have thought it?
Victor Moses has finally found his niche at wing back and considering the success that it has brought Chelsea this season, who are we to question his quality?
It was between him and Nathaniel Clyne for this spot and it was a tough call to be fair but, based on this season's form, there's only one man for the job.
James Milner
There is, quite simply, no position in which James Milner cannot play.
He's been a revelation as a makeshift left back for Jurgen Klopp to the point that the "makeshift" prefix is destined to be dropped sooner rather than later.
Marcos Alonso has been a great signing for Chelsea but our mind was made up on this one.
N'Golo Kante
N'Golo Kante bossed the middle of the park for Leicester last season, they won the Premier League.
N'Golo Kante is bossing the middle of the park for Chelsea this season, they're on the way to winning the Premier League.
That's no coincidence.
Kante's the name, intercepting is the game and he was one of the first names on this completely hypothetical teamsheet.
Philippe Coutinho
Liverpool's star player was always going to make the grade just based on what he's capable of.
On his day there's a case to be made that the Reds' Brazilian superstar is in the top three players in the league and while he's being forced to play a tad deeper here than he'd ideally like to, we had to fit him in somehow.
Sadio Mane
Listen carefully and you'll be able to hear the collective sigh of relief being released around Merseyside as the man who they had been missing most since the turn of the year is on his way back from AFCON.
Mane is the vital cog required to make Klopp's philosophy work at Liverpool and his boundless energy has been sorely missed in the Reds attack.
Eden Hazard
A full back's nightmare, Eden Hazard has recaptured the form that made him one of the most exciting young talents in Europe.
He went through a rough patch last season but his game relies so heavily on confidence and that appears to have been restored in abundance.
Like Coutinho for Liverpool, on his day Hazard is a world-beater.
Diego Costa
15 goals in the league. What do you want from us?
