'Liverpool confirm long wait for title is coming to an end'

Liverpool will not say it - there have been too many near misses and false dawns in the 30 years since their last title win to place temptation in fate's path.

The lockdown started moments after Jurgen Klopp's side produced arguably their finest performance of the season to overwhelm their nearest challengers Leicester City to go 13 points clear in the Premier League with a game in hand.

Liverpool's players, perfectly understandably, were right on title message: nothing taken for granted; long way to go; race not over.

If they will not say it, then others will. And it can be said with some certainty after the manner in which the Reds produced a 4-0 win that even then did not do justice to their superiority. This was the night when it became clear that the title race is now surely over.

Liverpool's rivals, including reigning champions Manchester City, will continue to fight the brave fight - but every measure, and the sheer relentlessness of Klopp's side, says they are now in a fight for second place.

It would take a collapse of unthinkable proportions from a Liverpool team who have forgotten how to lose league games, and are at the peak of their powers, to throw this away now. The Queen's famous horse Devon Loch, who inexplicably fell within sight of the winning line in the 1956 Grand

National, would be wiped from the history books as the worst finisher if the Reds made a hash of this.

Klopp, reflecting on that huge advantage, said: "It doesn't sound like anything has been decided to my ears. We are just trying everything we can do to be ready for our next games." Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers was never going to give up but his message was that of a realist "They are going to be very hard to stop. They are a fantastic team, confidence is high," he said.