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Liverpool welcome bottom-placed Huddersfield Town to Anfield on Friday evening as the Reds look to reclaim the top spot from Manchester City.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were 2-0 winners away to Cardiff last weekend. Prior to that, the Merseyside outfit had blanked Chelsea 2-0 to prime themselves for a strong finish to the season.
However, with City winning against Manchester United on Wednesday, the onus is again on Liverpool to pile the pressure on the Pep Guardiola's side before the latter takes the field on Sunday against Burnley.
Huddersfield, on the other hand, have already been relegated and have nothing to play for but pride. Yet, their path to redeem their reputation hasn’t quite gone to plan as the Terriers come into the game having lost seven games on the bounce.
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Thus, on paper, the match-up looks as much of a mismatch than any this season. However, the Premier League has seen countless instances of teams failing to hold their nerve in clutch title-chasing situations.
Though Liverpool would hope nothing of the above sort materialises, the Terriers would want to have one substantial say in the league, at least.
Kick-off Information
Venue: Anfield
Date: 26th April, 2019
Time: 20:00 (Local Time), 00:30 (IST) on 27th April, 2019
Where to watch: Star Sports Select 1, 2, HD1, HD2
Referee: Kevin Friend
Form Guide
Last five competitive fixtures (Most recent first)
Liverpool: W-W-W-W-W
Huddersfield: L-L-L-L-L
Head to Head
Liverpool: 30 wins
Huddersfield: 31 wins
Draw: 17 draws
Stats of the Day
Liverpool have won four of their last five top-flight home games on Friday. The only anomaly was a 2-1 defeat to Leeds United in April 2001.
Mohamed Salah has scored for Liverpool in all of his previous three Premier League games on Friday. His tally of three goals puts him level with Michael Owen as the player to have scored the most number of goals for the Reds in the league on Fridays.
Player to watch out for
Sadio Mane
The Senegalese forward has been Liverpool’s standout attacking performer this term and is showing no signs of slowing down. In the league, Sadio Mane has notched up an astonishing 18 goals and also bagged an assist. Along with the end-product, which has been impressive, his overall play has improved drastically compared to previous seasons at the Reds.
Many a time this term, Liverpool has found it tough to get going in an offensive sense. However, on most of those occasions, Mane’s direct running, pace and trickery has ignited the Reds’ attack.
Moreover, against a team like Huddersfield, the Senegalese would be accorded many chances in the game. After all, their aggregate score in away games against the current top six stands at an incredible 2-19.
Thus, with Mane being at his clinical best this term, one can expect him to throw a spanner in the Terriers’ works and propel Liverpool’s charge towards a potential league title.
