Eight wins from the opening 10 games. 26 points from 30. A best-ever start to a Premier League season.

And a testing trip to North London on the horizon.

Except we're not talking about Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

Rewind exactly a decade ago today, and the Reds, then helmed by Rafael Benitez, were preparing for a pivotal clash against Tottenham Hotspur as they looked to extend their unbeaten record.

The similarities with the task facing Liverpool on Saturday evening, when they are at in-form Arsenal, don't end there.

Tottenham were under new management, although Unai Emery has had a few months to grow accustomed to his fresh surrounds as opposed to the week afforded Harry Redknapp by the time the Reds were in town.

But while Arsenal are currently unbeaten in 13 games, Tottenham were bottom of the Premier League having won just one game and only days earlier somehow snaffling a 4-4 draw at their neighbours.

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Liverpool were three points clear at the top. And when Dirk Kuyt gave them an early lead at White Hart Lane, it seemed that lead would remain intact.

However, a failure to capitalise on their domination proved costly, as Tottenham equalised through a Jamie Carragher own-goal before substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko snatched an unlikely last-minute winner for the home side.

“Perhaps Harry should be a little bit embarrassed,” said a bewildered Benitez afterwards, while Redknapp revealed the secret message to Pavlyuchenko as he prepared to introduce the striker: “I said to the Russian interpreter, 'Tell him to just f---ing run about'.”

Frustrating for Liverpool, yes, their unbeaten start ended.

But it's what happened next that proved the real concern.

The Reds were back at White Hart Lane a few weeks later where they suffered a 4-2 League Cup defeat, while successive home draws against Fulham, West Ham United and Hull City – along with New Year stalemates at home to Everton and away to Stoke City and Wigan Athletic – checked their early-season momentum.

(Image: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

By the time Liverpool lost their second and only other Premier League game that season, a 2-0 reverse at Middlesbrough on February 28, they were in third place, seven points behind leaders Manchester United having played a game more.

It was a gap they never quite managed to bridge despite taking 31 points from their final 33.

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Such is the relentless form of the leading pack this season – particularly champions Manchester City – any slip ups will be magnified, their resonance debated and dissected.

Klopp and his players won't need a lesson from history to know failure at the Emirates on Saturday evening would be regarded as more than just a mere bump in the road.

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For Liverpool, the weekend represents another chance to follow their own path.