Arne Slot insisted in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference that a 15-day period in February would not decide Liverpool’s title race, and over a nine-month campaign it’s hard to argue with that logic.

But given the Reds will squeeze five Premier League matches in that period - roughly 13 per cent of the season - and play three of the top eight, it’s also difficult to ignore how significant this block in the shortest month of the year will be. Remarkably, after the trip to Newcastle United at the end of March, there will then be just one Premier League fixture in 33 days due to a quirk of the football calendar.

For now, Slot’s aim is clear: win the Merseyside derby and establish a nine-point gap to second-place Arsenal. That match in hand has been hanging over the Reds for over two months, an asterisk on the Premier League standings.

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Ironically, as soon as it disappears, the advantage will swing the other way. While Arsenal has a free midweek, Liverpool is in Premier League action at Aston Villa, a game that has been rearranged from mid-March due to the Carabao Cup final. Should Liverpool win its next three - against Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Villa - suddenly a six-point gap could grow to 12 in just a week, assuming Arsenal beats relegation fodder Leicester City on Saturday.

But Slot clearly has not counted Arsenal out yet. If anything, he’s expecting an improved second half of the campaign, as was the case 12 months ago.

Like 2023/24, Arsenal is now set to benefit from a January break. FA Cup elimination serves up a 10-day gap in the schedule, in contrast to Liverpool, allowing a mid-season trip to Dubai to be arranged for the squad.

The same happened last season after Jurgen Klopp’s Reds dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup at the third round, prompting a 13-day hiatus in the fixture list and a mid-season break in the Middle East. It served the Gunners well, who took four points from the final five league games of 2023 but won the first eight of 2024 following the Dubai camp.

Could the same be on the cards again? Slot clearly thinks it’s a possibility. “This is the hardest league to win because there are so many teams that can win this league and there are so many teams who are able to win 10, 15 games in a row so you cannot slow down or cannot have a few games that you are not on top of your game because all of a sudden a lot of teams catch you up,” the former Feyenoord boss said on Tuesday.

“That is why the Premier League is such an exciting league and beautiful league to work in and why the whole world is looking at us. Last season Arsenal after they went to [Dubai] they won the first eight games and only lost two of the last 17 but still [Manchester] City were able to win the league because they were able to win every single game.

“That is the league we are in. The upcoming five are important but after that the nine after that are important but the first 23 we played have been just as important.”

Slot clearly doesn’t feel that Liverpool can afford to relax; he’s expecting a giant final push from a side experienced in hunting down league leaders. That Arsenal has not lost in the league in over three months should also concern Liverpool, and underlines how vital the next 15 days could be in the title race.