We’re through the looking-glass here, people. Liverpool’s dramatic derby drubbing at Goodison Park may have knocked them out of this three-way title-race once and for all—and, even as I type those words, I know full-well just how wary we’ll have to be as we prepare for our own derby this weekend. More on that later. For now, Liverpool’s loss leaves them on outside looking in, needing both us an Man City to drop points. Time grows short. Their list of allies grows thin. We and Man City run neck and neck even as they have the inside track.

One might have expected that Liverpool, left with nothing to play for other than a Prem title in Klopp’s final season, would leave it all on the pitch. Instead, Liverpool turned in a limp, flaccid performance. To be sure, Goodison Park was incandescent from the off, and Dyche’s players may have turned in their best performance to date, delivering a near-fatal blow to their Merseyside rivals’ quest for silverware but also taking a dramatic stop away from relegation (which have some impact on the season’s final matchday…). It’s no mean feat to escape relegation after facing points deductions twice in one season, not that financial impropriety should have any bearing on clubs fighting to win the Prem. Ahem.

While Liverpool do stil have a chance at clawing their way back to the top, one has to feel that it’s now down to just two clubs. As it currently stands, we’re atop the table, a whopping four points clear of Man City…who as of this writing hold two matches in hand. They’ll travel to face Brighton on Thursday, a side that sits comfortably midtable but with a tolerably good record home and away against Man City. Should the Seagulls take any points from City, we’re back in the catbird’s seat. Sitting pretty. With just four matches of our own left to play, the Fates might even smile upon us.

Speaking of matches left to play, there is the not-insignifcant trip to face Tottenham. They’ll surely be supremely motivated to defeat us, both to deny us a Prem title and to strengthen their claim for a top-four spot. For as good as we were against a truly shambolic Chelsea side at the weekeend, we’ll have to be even sharper against a rival in a match in which form and position go out the window. Nevermind Tottenham’s roller-coaster of results. They’ll be up for it on Sundary as if it was a cup-final (not that they know much about that simile). Nonetheless, expect Hotspur Stadium to be just as boisterous as Goodison Park was on Wednesday. Whether their players can summon a similar spirit is another question. Should we somehow win, we’d have to feel pretty damned good about our chances at winning it all, even if we do still have to go to Old Trafford. Shame on you for laughing aloud.

As for Man City, they do have two games in hand, but it’s worth wondering whether those represent points all but claimed or points potentially dropped. They’ll also have to go to Hotspur Stadium but to Old Trafford as well, not to mention potential banana-peels at Nottingham Forest, who are just barely keeping their heads above the drop-zone, and at Fulham, who are safe but feisty all the same. Of course, we should need no reminding of just how remorseless or ruthless this squad is at this stage of the season. By the same token, City were uncharacteristically average against Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinal, suggesting that there might just be a bit of malaise or ennui setting in after an unprecedented glut of silverware. To be frank, we may have to pin at least part of our hopes on such existential angst if we’re to expect them to drop points.

For the time being, we’ve earned a chance at some rest. The time between the Chelsea derby and the North London Derby will be our longest spell between fixtures in weeks. Tottenham will have been waiting almost two weeks since losing comprehensively at St. James’s Park. Whether that gives them a chance to rest and strategize is another question, one that we’ll seek an answer to on Sunday. If we get the right answer, and if Brighton can do us any kind of favours on Thursday, well, then, all bets are off…