The reaction of the Liverpool FC players and Arne Slot at the full-time whistle on Sunday afternoon spoke volumes: the Reds are now starting to believe.

Granted, this trip to the Etihad Stadium didn’t hold the same weight as previous visits, with Manchester City nowhere near the title picture.

But with Liverpool having gone close to a decade without a win in East Manchester, the 2-0 victory felt like another major hurdle cleared en route to a second-ever Premier League title.

It wasn’t the most swashbuckling performance from the championship-chasing Reds, who had less possession, efforts on goal and shots on target compared to Pep Guardiola’s side.

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However, the efficiency in the final third stood out in particular, with two first-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai doing the damage.

At the opposite end, centre-back duo Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk marshalled the Liverpool backline imperiously, limiting the opponent’s attack and dealing with crosses into the box from the City wingers.

But what if Liverpool’s strengths this season, in particular Salah and Van Dijk, turn out to be their downfall moving forward?

Salah is being spoken about as a Ballon d’Or contender, having already registered 41 G/A in the league this season, while Van Dijk is playing some of the best football of his career - both pre and post-ACL injury.

With the pair’s contracts set to expire at the end of the season, the prospect of losing either - alongside the slightly younger Trent Alexander-Arnold - appears unthinkable, considering how crucial they’ve been to Liverpool’s form this season.

With Salah and Van Dijk though, because they are both entering their mid-30s, any extensions are likely to be the duo’s last at the top table in European football and will no doubt see them through to their final days as a professional.

There is a scenario where spending big on new deals for the pair could prove counterproductive in the long run, if one or either of their performance levels drop off during the duration of the contract extensions.

Liverpool might’ve even been given a glimpse of the future at the Etihad on Sunday when a laboured Kevin De Bruyne was hooked midway through the second half having failed to make an impact on the tie.

City, who have enjoyed unprecedented amounts of success in recent years, are starting to pay the price for keeping hold of their once elite, now ageing, star players.

When a player’s drop-off starts to take hold, there’s no knowing just how sharp the decline might be.

Just ask Kyle Walker.

The alternative outcome, allowing Van Dijk and Salah to leave, presents a set of problems of its own.

It might mean Liverpool can invest the funds they’d have used on contract extensions on younger talents in the transfer market, but there’s no guarantee they’d hit the ground running.

With Arsenal expected to sign a striker in the summer and City tipped to be busy once again, the Merseyside outfit run the risk of allowing the Premier League’s chasing pack to cut the gap if their own quality levels diminish.

Arne Slot and Liverpool have a problem to fix.
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