West Ham United, Anfield: a team and a venue which conspired to create a moment Loris Karius could hardly forget.
It was in the corresponding fixture last season that the Liverpool goalkeeper’s first attempt to establish himself as the club’s long-term No 1 duly unravelled.
The manner in which he was beaten by a long-range Dimitri Payet free-kick during a 2-2 draw served to amplify the background noise produced by the German’s very public spat over his form with the Sky pundit Gary Neville. Liverpool were back in action three days later - Karius was not.
This, then, could be seen as Redemption Day. When Karius got his fingertips to Marko Arnautovic’s brilliant chip and the ball kissed the crossbar, rather than nestling in the back of the net, the visitors were denied seizing the lead after 15 minutes.
Another save from the same player three minutes before the interval then kept Liverpool’s lead intact, their 100th goal of an increasingly promising campaign arriving when Emre Can headed home Mo Salah’s corner from inside the six-yard box.
Karius had little to do in between despite West Ham initially making it difficult for the hosts, but then that is the life of a goalkeeper at Anfield. By making the saves when he needed to, he is doing his future prospects little harm.
Jurgen Klopp will buy a goalkeeper this summer with Simon Mignolet set to leave, having been usurped in the battle for a starting jersey by his 24-year-old rival. A No 6 and a replacement for Philippe Coutinho are also likely.
The wish list in the first two instances could take the Liverpool manager to Serie A. Napoli’s holding midfielder Jorginho would be the Merseyside club’s first choice, the problem being that the Brazilian-born Italian international would be the same for just about every elite side in Europe.
AS Roma’s Alisson is the preferred target for goalkeeping reinforcements, although Liverpool have backed out of the chase for his signature for the time being.
They are unwilling to pay a huge ‘Salah-tax’ to the Italian club for Alisson simply because 12 months ago they secured the Egyptian for a £36.9m fee that has been shown to be a steal.
If Alisson and his representatives fight to ensure his price tag is not prohibitive – and the latest figures range from anything between £60m and £90m – then Liverpool could return to the negotiating table.
As it stands, Karius has the opportunity to continue to impress Klopp. By the time he was beaten just before the hour-mark by substitute Michail Antonio’s angled drive, Liverpool had put daylight between themselves and David Moyes’ side.
Salah’s seemingly obligatory strike saw him match Luis Suarez’s haul of 31 goals from the 2013-14 season in the same amount of games (37) before Roberto Firmino beat the on-rushing Adrian to Can’s through ball and made it six goals in eight games.
An extra layer of gloss was added by Sadio Mane with 13 minutes remaining in a move which carried Liverpool from one end of the pitch to the other.
Karius, who had almost sold Virgil van Dijk short with a pass seconds earlier, recovered his poise to start a sweeping attack which flowed through James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andrew Robertson before Mane applied a deft finish.
sO Liverpool moved back into second place in the Premier League for the first time since a 4-0 victory over Arsenal in August. They will do their best to stay there, just like Karius is trying his hardest to show he should remain in goal.