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Klopp says 'who cares' where Liverpool celebrate title – he's absolutely right


The bottom line is no one knows how many Liverpool fans will rock up at Anfield when their team is playing behind closed doors.

Those who see the best in people insist there will be no significant congregation, those who see the worst in people reckon the area around Anfield stadium might get mobbed.

Liverpool Football Club – its staff, players, manager, ­officials and, indeed, ­supporters – feels affronted, even insulted, by the idea their matches may have to be moved to a neutral venue due to public safety issues.

Those with no affiliation to the champions-elect envisage the local streets being lined, several deep, and Stanley Park becoming a seething mass of celebrating supporters.

The reality is that we just do not know.

Wherever Liverpool win the title – it will be behind closed doors

The reality is coronavirus has killed around 40,000 ­people in the United Kingdom – probably many more – and the reality is the North West and Merseyside continue to suffer badly.

That is what we do know at a time when scientists are forming an orderly queue to express fears that lockdown is being eased too quickly.

At my last count, there were four eminent academics ­voicing their worries about the relaxation, one of whom simply said Covid-19 is “spreading too fast to lift ­lockdown in England”.

And, as sombre warnings continue to roll in, it is worth remembering the imminent return of professional football remains some sort of risk.

It will be good to see ­football, but those who still believe the comeback is wrong are probably not in too much of a minority, if a ­minority at all.

When the Covid-19 daily deaths were over a thousand in April, there is no way Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool would ever have imagined having the chance to complete their title-winning efforts on the field towards the end of June.

Jurgen Klopp is not fussed where his side win the league title

It remains remarkable the Premier League is restarting. And that is why it does not ­really matter where Liverpool play the games that complete the formalities of their first title in 30 years.

Club owners seem to have won the argument that matches should be played on a home-and-away basis, even though the absence of any spectators means a stadium is instantly converted into an unofficial neutral venue.

But the authorities have identified certain games that could be moved to an ­officially neutral venue and any match at Anfield in which Liverpool can become champions is on what the Premier League are calling a contingency list.

Presumably, it will be an evolving list. Presumably, ­Liverpool fans are not being singled out and insulted, but are being highlighted simply because their team has ­something hugely significant – and emotional – to achieve.

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If there is a home game for, say, Aston Villa that could see them relegated, would that be moved to a neutral venue?

The safety advisory groups and police bodies, who will make these decisions, might think the same as a lot of us and reckon nearly all fans, ­including Liverpool fans, will be sensible and not descend on grounds in numbers. But if they don’t, it is not worth ­getting into row about.

Moving the odd match or two to a neutral venue would be one small concession in the unlikely project of ­bringing professional football back to a country that is still in a pandemic’s deadly grip.

Asked about the prospect of securing the title in a neutral venue, Klopp said: “Usually there’s a 50 per cent chance you don’t become champion in your own stadium anyway, so who cares?”

Exactly. No one should care.





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