Richard Buxton: Beware the enemy within

"This means more" is Liverpool's current slogan of choice. But maybe "this" means too much.

Winning the English Premier League remains their object of desire and the pressure is finally beginning to tell.

Yesterday morning's (Singapore time) 1-1 draw with Leicester City should have provided a seminal moment in this season's title race. Instead, the Reds remain stuck in manual gear.

Juergen Klopp's side remain the masters of their own destiny, but the enemy within could become a greater threat to that status than anything Manchester City could possibly muster.

Of late, no teams find playing at Anfield more intimidating or paralysing than its permanent residents.

Whenever excitement starts to build, fear and loathing again take a firm grip of the wheel.

Liverpool's own players have been on the receiving end of a brand of hostility from the Anfield crowd traditionally reserved for their opponents.

Klopp knows the power the home crowd can wield, both good and bad. It is why he continually implored them to bring the noise throughout this season.

Every pre-match press conference and set of programme notes has been dedicated to carrying variations of that rallying cry. Against the Foxes, his message fell on deaf ears.

History is in the mind for Kopites as much as it could be in the making this season.

Dropping points to a team outside of the EPL's top six for the first time this term can be considered par for the course after 24 games of relative invincibility, but the past continues to plague them.

HELPING HAND

Moments after Sadio Mane had given the table-toppers an early lead, Rafael Benitez was name-checked with more gusto than any other chant emanating across the famous stadium.

The Newcastle United manager's helping hand to his former club in toppling City 2-1 just 24 hours earlier also came with its own stark reminder of the failings from their recent past.

Under Benitez, Liverpool were booed off after a draw with West Ham - fittingly their next opponents - allowed them to a marginal gain in the 2008/09 title race.

Many saw it as two points dropped while others coined the short-lived mantra of "Boo if you're top of the league".

But they relinquished the lead after a few more draws and eventually finished second, four points behind champions Manchester United.

Years of parsimony by the club's erstwhile American owners had made Anfield a breeding ground for serial unrest.

A failure to put other mid-table sides to the sword ultimately proved Liverpool's undoing.

That similar opposition, as well as a relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town and Burnley, will form five of their final seven opponents at home is an understandable cause of consternation.

Before a ball had even been kicked against Leicester, amateur mathematicians were calculating the margins for error that the Reds could afford en route to the title.

The conversation has shifted from how many points Liverpool can run away with, as they try to land a first league title since 1990, to how many they can get away with dropping.

By the current reckoning, 12 wins and two draws will be enough for them to finish top.

Logic and reality, however, rarely tally where Anfield and the EPL title are concerned.

In 2014, they were tipped to take 10 points from their final four games. They managed just seven points, and finished second, just two points behind champions Manchester City.

While Klopp's side appear better equipped to handle the pressure of "squeaky-bum time" than their predecessors, averting the fans' gaze from the exit door may be their greatest challenge yet.