Over the years they have become accustomed to the thick fog that can reach this location from the Mersey and obscure the path. Last night was more disorienting than usual: swirls of fog covered the field one minute, cleared the next, and clouded the road once again.
But Liverpool are a team that sees and plays with the greatest clarity of thought these days and, after a challenging start, were undeterred in their quest to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points, with a game less.
There were some “best in the league” chants as the path finally became clearer: weak and hesitant at first, as if no one dared even tempt fate about how this could all end.
A side once driven by electric shocks is advancing on the calm side, calmly and inexorably. For 39 tense minutes after conceding the first goal, there was no temptation to throw the kitchen sink at Leicester. But by the end of the night, the tie had stretched to victory number 22 in Arne Slot's 26th game in charge of Liverpool.
Liverpool's previous experiences in the fog had generally not been so good. There was a Super Cup tie here against Anderlecht in 1978, which ended in aggregate defeat, not to mention the 5-1 defeat in Amsterdam in 1966, in which Bill Shankly insisted Ajax “got lucky”.
But what they fear most is complacency. Every Liverpool fan worth their salt knows that the club have been leaders on Christmas Day seven times in the Premier League era and, of course, have only won the title on one of those occasions.
Mohamed Salah scored his 16th goal of the season in the Premier League to give Liverpool the victory
The Egyptian achieved an impressive shot against Jakub Stolarczyk in the 82nd minute.
The Foxes had taken a surprising early lead when Jordan Ayew managed to finish past Alisson in the sixth minute.
“You have my word that we will continue to work as hard as possible to continue improving,” Arne Slot promised in his show notes.
When the fog temporarily cleared at kick-off, there was certainly something unsettling and sinister about Liverpool's patient and calculated preparation; the sign of winners playing with their inferiors.
But then the swirling fog returned and in the blink of an eye one of the least likely early goals had been scored by a team clearly motivated by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
The blow was largely due to Liverpool also lacking defensive intensity. Trent Alexander Arnold allowed Stephy Mavididi to level a cross from the left and Andy Roberson allowed Jordan Ayew to bully him as he fired a shot which was deflected off Virgil van Dijk's heel.
The Slot players' patient and precise pre-calculations continued as they sought parity, but it was clear they were up against a team with a new purpose. For once, Leicester's defense looked genuinely useful and robust.
Van Nistelrooy is quickly becoming familiar with the unpleasant and brutal realities of managing what has been a disastrously managed club. Preparations for this match had included getting rid of second-choice goalkeeper Danny Ward, after an “intense” conversation with him, and adding third-choice Jakub Stolarczyk, a Pole who had had loan spells at Hartlepool and Fleetwood but never, before this , in the Premier League. .
Stolarczyk prospered and lived off his luck as Liverpool tested what was at times a thin six-man blue line. He blocked when Curtis Jones appeared to have slipped. A header that Andy Robertson pushed against the post could easily have bounced off his body and in. Mo Salah fired a flat shot against the crossbar.
Leicester's counterattack was a clear and present danger. Joe Gomez was booked and it brought a first half full of effort from Alex Mac Allister, looking to sweep away as the others in red buzzed around the Leicester area.
The home team counterattacked just before the break thanks to Cody Gakpo, who shone that night.
The Dutchman finished in the far corner to restore parity after a frustrating first half.
Curtis Jones put Liverpool ahead for the first time with a good finish shortly after the break.
Arne Slot took advantage of his rivals' slip-up to become the leader with a seven-point advantage with one game less
It took an act of pure excellence to ease the strain on Cody Gakpo, the player whose sale from PSV Eindhoven to Liverpool led van Nistelrooy to leave the club in protest last year. The Dutchman cut inside James Justin before curling a magnificent shot into the top corner of the net.
From the start of the second half, Liverpool looked like a team determined to take over the game and extend things until they achieved victory. A superb move inside the Leicester box involving Salah, Mac Allister and Curtis Jones put them ahead, with Jones directing the ball into the back of the net from a Mac Allister cross.
There was a delay while VAR checked for a possible offside by Salah, although it was clear that Liverpool were dragging down the Leicester defense by turning them around and creating the kind of finishing space that had been missing in the first half. His game had more rhythm.
It was significant that Jones, a danger at all times, had scored, in his 100th Premier League appearance, five years since his first appearance as a substitute under Jurgen Klopp at Bournemouth. Much of what we are witnessing is a product of the work Klopp did in developing the team that Slot has inherited and perfected.
Gakpo thought he had added the third when he finished off a loose ball inside the area, but the goal was disallowed, with Darwin Nunez adjudged offside in the second phase. Instead, it was Salah who claimed victory, cutting past Victor Kristinassen and Jennik Vesteraard to score.
“If you're lost in a fog, you stay together,” Bob Paisley, Liverpool's most successful manager, once said. “That way you don't get lost.”