If Liverpool are to be successful in their quest for the Premier League title, a five-game sequence of away fixtures between mid-January and late-February will have considerable influence.

If it was unclear how a point against Nottingham Forest, whose ambitions now range between a shock challenge for the title itself and a place in the top four, should be viewed on January 14 without the full context of what was to follow. So a late victory at Brentford, later that week, added weight to the idea that the 1-1 draw at the City Ground was a creditable one.

Darwin Nunez's late intervention ensured the Reds became just the third team to triumph at Brentford, whose joint status as the Premier League's most formidable home side eventually fell later that day when Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at the Emirates on January 18.

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Next up in a run of away-days that includes the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and a visit to Manchester City, is a huge meeting with high-flying and Champions League-chasing Bournemouth.

Arne Slot may refer to it as the most important game of the season simply because it is the next one on the list but there is a growing sense of importance being attached to the latest trip to the Vitality.

With Arsenal entertaining a revitalised Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, the chance to move nine clear of Mikel Arteta's side before what is theoretically one of the Gunners' toughest home games of the campaign is a mouthwatering prospect for Liverpool, particularly given the difficulty of the next two away games themselves at Everton and City.

Rarely, if ever, can a game at Bournemouth have been played with such significance attached to it then, and for good reason. The Cherries have already seen off Arsenal and City at home and put the previously miserly Forest to the sword with a ruthless display that saw them run out 5-0 winners last week. Newcastle were also dismantled at St James' Park earlier this month for good measure, too.

Such is their form, in fact, that the hosts are looking to extend a club-record run of 11 league games without defeat (seven wins, four draws) when they entertain the Premier League leaders this afternoon.

Andoni Iraola has emerged as one of the brightest young coaches in the league and he has navigated injury troubles masterfully to have the club with the division's lowest revenue at £141m - according to figures taken from June last year - with a real shot of Champions League qualification at the start of February.

"It’s one of the toughest games," Slot says. "There are always a few reasons why a game could be really tough and this is definitely one of them. They’ve shown already by beating Arsenal there and beating City there. They lost to Chelsea but they missed a penalty, if I’m correct, and conceded only seven goals at home.

"The second half we played against them (at Anfield in September) showed me they are a serious team. If you are 3-0 down and can keep competing and working that hard in the second half that tells you a lot about the mentality of the team.

"Combined with the quality they have – Richard left that club in a very, very good place, not only with the quality of the players they have but because he hired a very good manager – that’s why it’s no surprise to me that they are able to compete with every single team in the league."

The 'Richard' Slot refers to, of course, is sporting director Hughes, whose influence in his current role has yet to be truly visible outside of the confines of the AXA Training Centre.

Hughes was immediately headhunted by Michael Edwards upon his return to the fold as Fenway Sports Group's CEO of football last year but only one player arrived in the summer transfer window in Federico Chiesa and the contract situations of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all remain unresolved.

That being said, Hughes was credited with bringing in over £50m for players on the fringes of the squad in Bobby Clark, Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho and such deals have become an important part of how Liverpool operate within the restraints of their self-sustainable model imposed by owners FSG. A new deal for Jarell Quansah was also wrapped up and fresh terms have been offered to Ibrahima Konate.

Slot held a meeting with Hughes earlier this week to discuss the plans for players like Jayden Danns, Kaide Gordon and others whose futures may lie elsewhere by the time the transfer deadline passes at 11pm on Monday evening but the head coach also tapped into his sporting director's knowledge of Saturday's opponents, many of whom be signed for the club during his stint on the south coast.

If Liverpool fans are still waiting to hang their hat on the work of Hughes at Anfield, the progress of Bournemouth should at least offer encouragement for the long term.

Slot says: "I think he tells us what we are already seeing. You can watch every game back so that is the most important information you can have. It’s not that important if he tells me things I don’t know like whether a player is married and has children, that will not influence the game tomorrow! But he definitely sees the things we are seeing because of their playing style and the manager is the same. What I see he confirms is true.

"Bournemouth is always a team that is around sixth-12th in the last few seasons and those are the difficult ones for every team to go to. They are a team that can make signings that are maybe not as expensive as some top clubs can make.

"But if you look at our recent signings like Ryan Gravenberch or Mac Allister or Wataru Endo or Federico Chiesa, they cost the amount of money that Bournemouth can spend as well."