Liverpool v Huddersfield Town: Premier League – live!

“Come, come Mr Smyth,” says Ian Copestake. “You take just as much pleasure out of killing the dream as I do. But you know football is never straightforward. Except when it is. Which it often isn’t. This race is over when we say it’s over. By losing at home to a relegated side. Okay?”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain returns to the Liverpool squad for the first time since his serious knee injury a year ago. Roberto Firmino is absent, presumably a precuation ahead of next week’s trip to Barcelina, so Daniel Sturridge starts. Huddersfield are without the injured Aaron Mooy.

Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, van Dijk Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Keita; Salah, Sturridge, Mane.
Substitutes: Mignolet, Milner, Gomez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Origi, Matip.

Huddersfield Town (4-1-4-1) Lossl; Smith, Schindler, Kongolo, Durm; Stankovic; Grant, Bacuna, Hogg, Mbenza; Mounie.
Substitutes: Coleman, Kachunga, Diakhaby, Lowe, Pritchard, Zanka, Daly.

Referee Kevin Friend.

So now what? Liverpool supporters put so many of their eggs in the basket marked ‘Manchester United’ that they must now be starting to fear the worst. For all Jurgen Klopp’s positive vibes, he knows deep down that finishing runners-up with 97 points is not cool. Everyone connected with Liverpool must be struggling to escape the feeling that the title race is over. They know, but they don’t know.

It won’t be quite as painful as 2014, primarily because they have done so little wrong. But it will still be raw. And it will smart even more because two of the few things they did wrong – those tepid draws at Manchester United and Everton in late February and early March – look likely to cost them the league. Had they won either match, they would now be three games away from immortality.

Neither Liverpool nor Manchester City have dropped points since, and that’s not going to change tonight. Spoiler: Liverpool win this game. They might thump Huddersfield and take a big chunk out of Manchester City’s goal-difference advantage, which currently stands at eight. But even a 482-0 win will be no use unless City drop points in one of their last three games. And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that Liverpool will be left holding the greatest consolation prize in the world: the European Cup.

This preamble will look ridiculous if Manchester City fail to beat Burnley, Leicester or Brighton, and ridiculing other human beings is what the internet is for. All Liverpool can do is keep taking care of business, as they have for the last six games, and hope Brendan Rodgers does them a solid next weekend. It’s not likely, but nor is it impossible. It’s not the despair, Laura…

Kick off is at 8pm BST.