While the main event for the hosts will be after the game, the match itself is of paramount importance to the visitors as they look to secure a top-four spot with a game to spare.
Alan Hansen was the last Liverpool captain to lift the league trophy above his head some 30 years ago, before the Premier League was even in existence.
On Wednesday night, Jordan Henderson will become the 10th Liverpool skipper to do so, adding his name to an illustrious list which includes Hansen, Graeme Souness, Phil Thompson, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Smith, Ron Yeats, Willie Fagan, Donald McKinlay and Alex Raisbeck.
It will be a trophy presentation with a difference given the lack of fans in the stadium, with a special podium set to be erected on the Kop and club icon Sir Kenny Dalglish being drafted in to hand out the medals.
It is a moment which has been longed for by Liverpool fans for a generation and will mark the crowning glory of a season which will go down in English football history, although most previous champions will tell you that defeat in the game before lifting the trophy takes some of the shine off it.
Liverpool will therefore be hoping to mark a celebratory occasion with victory over the team that handed them the title with seven games to spare, with Chelsea’s triumph over Manchester City last month officially sending the trophy to Anfield.
Since then there has undoubtedly been a drop-off from Liverpool, which in the grand scheme of things will be forgotten about relatively quickly but will still irk both manager Jurgen Klopp and his players.
The Merseysiders had a glorious chance to record the best single season in English top-flight history having dropped only two points from their opening 27 games, but since then they have won four, drawn two and lost three.
In all competitions, Liverpool have now lost more games (six) than they have won (five) over their last 13 outings, the most recent defeat coming at the hands of Arsenal at the Emirates courtesy of uncharacteristically sloppy errors from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker.
That result ended any hope Liverpool had of breaking the all-time points record, with 99 now the limit heading into their final two games of the campaign, but there are still a few landmarks up for grabs.
Klopp’s side could still record the biggest title-winning margin – their lead of 18 points is one short of the current record – while victory on Wednesday would see them equal the records for most home points and most home wins in a single season.
- AFP
