Richard Buxton: Tricky path to glory for Liverpool

Mortality threatens to derail Liverpool's quest to become the ultimate "invincibles".

Every week unbeaten sees Juergen Klopp's side not only edge ever closer towards a first English Premier League title since 1990, but also lay siege to Arsenal's 49-game record.

Like Icarus, however, each victory sends them soaring perilously closer to the sun.

Fixtures that previously represented a relative formality now serve as potential banana skins.

Few come more slippery than the trip to Norwich City on Sunday morning (Singapore time).

Carrow Road may be one of the European champions' happier hunting grounds in their top-flight existence, with no defeats in seven past visits, but Steven Gerrard knew all too well how the marathon trip to face the Canaries could derail even Anfield's best-laid plans.

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His memorable on-field rallying call after the Reds downed Manchester City at the height of their title challenge of 2013/14 came with a warning about the danger posed on the east coast of England.

"We go to Norwich," Gerrard told his teammates.

"And do exactly the same."

Those words were followed through to the letter in the following week.

Six days after edging out a five-goal thriller against the eventual champions, Brendan Rodgers' charges emulated that result against a Norwich team that defied their status of battling for their EPL survival.

A very different Liverpool side will turn up in Norfolk this weekend; the trade-off between swashbuckling attacking play and a fragile defensive line is well and truly a thing of the past.

So, too, is Klopp's need to rely on Adam Lallana to edge out breathless encounters.

But the finish line brings its own set of problems for a team fuelled by belief and momentum.

History is not on the side of Daniel Farke, with just one Norwich manager successfully beating the drop in the season immediately following the club's return to English football's top tier.

TOUGH AT HOME

Farke's side may be fighting a losing battle in their bid to avoid relegation, but will have more than maximum points in their sights when stepping out against Liverpool.

Already this season, they have scalped several of their more esteemed peers on home soil.

City left Carrow Road empty-handed in September, while Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal can both consider themselves fortunate not to have followed suit after rallying to draws there.

A draw against the Reds would elevate Norwich to a rare level of standing alongside Manchester United in being the only teams to take points off Klopp's champions-elect this season.

Yet halting Liverpool's relentless surge towards the title can have an impact on not just their own fortunes but also that of their unassailable opponents.

Confidence remains key for the runaway leaders, as they continue to chase an attainable dream of footballing immortality.

Teams fear facing Klopp's side because they appear both unbeatable and unstoppable.

Any emerging chinks in Liverpool's armour at Norwich will lead to more teams fancying their chances of cutting the Reds' 22-point advantage down to size in the remaining 12 games.