Not for the first time, Mikel Arteta is hoping his old boss David Moyes can do him a favour in the title race.
Liverpool travel to Everton on Wednesday for the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park and their game in hand on Arsenal in the title race.
Arne Slot’s side are six points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and the Gunners will be desperately hoping that gap does not stretch to nine.
Arsenal returned from their warm-weather training camp in Dubai on Tuesday evening and one suspects the squad will be glued to events at Goodison Park.
An Everton win would be a huge boost for Arsenal, who could then close the gap to three points by beating Leicester on Saturday before Liverpool travel to Wolves the following day.
Arteta is no stranger to needing a favour from Moyes, who managed him at Everton.
On the final day of last season, when Moyes was in charge of West Ham, Arsenal needed the Hammers to take points off Manchester City to give them any hope of winning the title.
West Ham failed and were beaten 3-1 at the Etihad, but the chances of an upset on Wednesday feel far greater.
Slot is predicting the best-ever atmosphere in a Merseyside derby given it is the final one at Goodison Park before they move to their new ground at Bramley-Moore Dock next season.
Everton have also won three out of their four league games since Moyes was hired last month.
They look a far better side than the one under Sean Dyche, which was due to face Liverpool in December before Storm Darragh forced its postponement.
“I’m aware of the fact that David took over for four games and they’ve won three,” said Slot. “That is definitely a great accomplishment from him.
“They are definitely maybe now in a better place now than they were a few weeks or months ago. The weather circumstances are a bit better maybe as well!”
Wednesday’s game kicks off what feels like a defining run for Liverpool in the title race.
After Wolves on Sunday, they face Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle before the end of the month.
That is a tricky run and one that will test the depth of Liverpool’s squad given the trio of games against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle all come in the space of eight days.
Get through that unscathed, though, and Liverpool will feel this is their year in the title race.
But, if they falter, Arsenal will believe they can rein them in.
