Palace romp puts Reds on brink of ending their 30 years of heartache

Klopp’s men will claim Premier League title tonight if City fail to beat Chelsea at Bridge

ALL Liverpool eyes will be on Stamford Bridge tonight where Manchester City must win against Chelsea to prevent Jurgen Klopp’s men being confirmed as Premier League champions.

Last night’s 4-0 rout of Crystal Palace has put Liverpool 23 points clear of second-placed City who now know they must collect all three points to scupper early celebrations on Merseyside.

Klopp suggested Pep Guardiola should take up poker when he was asked about the City boss’s claim that he would consider resting players tonight with one eye on their FA Cup game against Newcastle on Sunday.

“They are brilliant. Pep should play poker . . . and the football they play is unbelievable. We are different and we have to be, but we are good as well. There are different ways of playing football and I like them both,” he said.

Klopp was delighted to see his side back to their best after a rusty showing in Sunday’s Merseyside derby, as Trent Alexander-Arnold opened the scoring with a first-half free-kick and Mo Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mane all got on the scoresheet.

“Imagine if this stadium would have been full today and all the people could have experienced it live,” he said.

“I don’t think the game could have been better because my boys played like everybody was in the stadium. The atmosphere on the pitch was incredible.

“Before the restart I said I would like to see the best games behind closed doors ever because, hopefully, we won’t have to see them again. That was the best counter-pressing game I have ever seen.”

Alexander-Arnold insisted that none of the players would be even thinking about popping the champagne corks.

“It was a difficult game for us on (against Everton) on Sunday, our first game back, but this made up for it. We really got going out there,” he said.

“It’s two points (we need) and we are quite close, but a lot can happen in the Premier League. We have worked hard for this and waited a long time, so hopefully it will be worth it.

“All we can do is to focus on ourselves and not worry about anything else. It’s in our hands and we can’t be thinking about anything else – now all we know is that we have to go to City next week and get a result.”