Between them, according to figures compiled by the data provider Opta Sports, the Premier League’s top two entered the weekend accounting for 17.9 percent of all the points won in England’s top flight this season. That is a level of dominance that has not been seen since the late 1890s. If anything, though, the season feels as if it is very much in keeping with a pattern.

By almost any metric one can conjure, there has been a fundamental, pronounced shift in the nature of the Premier League, one that stretches beyond Manchester City and Liverpool’s current campaigns.

It is visible in the records that are broken and the milestones that are set: in 2017, Chelsea won the league thanks, in no small part, to a run of 13 straight wins, a record feat. Last year, Manchester City managed 18 in a row.

And it is there, too, in the way games are played. Between 2004 and 2014, Opta recorded 26 matches in which one team had at least 70 percent of the possession. There were 26 such occasions in the 2017-18 season alone. With three rounds of fixtures still to play, there have been 26 already this year.

The ultimate proof, though, is the table. For the third year in a row, the same six clubs will occupy the top six slots. Behind City and Liverpool, the remaining four members of the Big Six are tussling for qualification for the Champions League. All have stumbled recently: Chelsea was humbled, in quick succession, by Arsenal, Bournemouth and City in February; Tottenham did not win for five games in February and March; Manchester United has won only two of its last seven league matches, and Arsenal has lost four of its last five.