Richard Buxton: Reds' smiling assassin shows bite in title race

Smiling assassins have become a recurring theme in Liverpool's recent English Premier League title quests.

Roberto Firmino and Luis Suarez both play on the edge but more than mere geography continues to distinguish Anfield's previous and current South American talismans.

Barely five years apart, the pair dominated 5-1 thrashings of Arsenal; one took home the match ball and a litany of plaudits, while the other pondered what might have been.

Suarez spent three seasons with the Reds, traversing the fine line between ingenuity and madness.

He would leave opponents mesmerised one minute and physically smarting the next.

The Uruguayan's propensity to bare his teeth resulted in broken skin and shattered dreams.

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  Liverpool have racked up 54 points from their first 20 EPL games this season. Only Chelsea (55 in 2005/06) and Manchester City (58 in 2017/18) have had more at this stage in the English top flight, where three points are awarded for a win, and both teams went on to clinch the title.

Had he not been serving the remnants of a 10-game ban for gnawing at Branislav Ivanovic, Liverpool might have realised their title ambitions in 2013/14, instead of agonising over a two-point shortfall.

Firmino, however, does not feel the need to play between the devil and the deep blue sea.

His own set of pearly whites are used solely to flash a toothy grin at rivals, as he did on three separate occasions against the Gunners yesterday morning (Singapore time).

But like Suarez, sometimes his endeavour has gone unrewarded, even if it no longer slips under the radar.

Take his role in Mohamed Salah's first-half penalty, which saw goalkeeper Alisson vaunted for having the foresight to turn defence into attack with a long clearance.

It is easy to see why Firmino has recently been touted as Suarez's successor at Barcelona, with a similarly tireless work rate and regular goal return, minus the needless controversy.

He played like a man possessed to overturn the early deficit against Unai Emery's side.

A 262-day wait to score in the league on home soil may have had some bearing on that turnaround.

Even the Brazilian's goals carry more than a hint of Suarez's own moments of brilliance, not least as he slalomed through Arsenal's defence with deft elegance to double his tally.

Admittedly, he has been helped by a shift in dynamic far removed from 2014.

Juergen Klopp said it best, this is a different time and a different Liverpool team; one where Firmino's predecessor in the front line would have also flourished instead of taking up an unhealthy amount of slack.

No longer does the onus fall on one player to deliver, as it often proved with Lionel Messi's current strike partner and, on more than one occasion, an ageing captain in Steven Gerrard.

Selflessness also helps Firmino's case and is not restricted solely to Liverpool's No. 9.

Salah continues to evolve beyond a simple poacher.

The Egyptian has scored and assisted in the same EPL game for the 10th time since the start of last season - a feat surpassed in Europe's top-five leagues only by Neymar.

Should both Firmino and Salah endure troughs in form, Sadio Mane is on hand to help fill the creative void; so, too, are Xherdan Shaqiri and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Klopp's belief in the power of the collective is why, barring a catastrophic fall from grace, Liverpool are on course to end a 29-year wait for the EPL title.

Unlike his predecessor Brendan Rodgers, any temptation to giddily revel in his side sitting pretty at the EPL's summit continues to be admonished as much as it remains resisted.

How times have changed for the soon-to-be 19-time champions.

LIVERPOOL: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk, Robertson (Clyne 83), Wijnaldum (Lallana 78), Fabinho, Shaqiri, Firmino, Mane (Henderson 62), Salah

ARSENAL: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi (Koscielny 46), Sokratis, Kolasinac (Guendouzi 80), Torreira, Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Iwobi, Aubameyang (Lacazette 71)