LIVEBuild-up to Liverpool v Sheffield United - can Reds make it a year unbeaten?

Premier League updates from the 8pm GMT kick-off

Full team news

Liverpool v Sheffield United (20:00 GMT)

.Copyright: .

Jurgen Klopp makes just the one change from the Liverpool side that began the 1-0 win over Wolves on Sunday as Naby Keita replaces Adam Lallana, who is among the substitutes.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Keita, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Mane.

Substitutes: Milner, Adrian, Lallana, Origi, Jones, Elliott, Phillips.

.Copyright: .

Two changes for Sheffield United from the 11 that began the 2-0 loss at Manchester City as John Lundstram and David McGoldrick start and Muhamed Besic and Callum Robinson drop to the bench.

Sheffield United: Henderson, Basham, Egan, O'Connell, Baldock, Lundstram, Norwood, Fleck, Stevens, McGoldrick, Mousset.

Substitutes: McBurnie, Sharp, Robinson, Jagielka, Verrips, Osborn, Besic.

Teams:

Klopp and Wilder have fielded their strongest available lineups. Keita is back for Liverpool, while Sheffield United are buoyed by the returns of Lundstram and McGoldrick. We have the Premier League’s two meanest defences in action here, but both rearguards (especially the full-backs/wingbacks) contribute plenty to their teams’ attacks - and both have strikers (Firmino/McGoldrick) who are not prolific but are definitely brilliant. Does that mean there’ll be goals? Or not? This promises to be facsinating and/or fun.

Preamble

Hello. Jürgen Klopp and Chris Wilder were nigh-on flawless in 2019 and now aim to pull off the luminous feat of making 2020 even better. For Liverpool that means ending their long, long wait for a Premier League title. For Sheffield United that means ... finishing in the top half in their first season after promotion? Qualifying for Europe? Reaching the Champions League? All those achievements are varying degrees of probable. As we said: luminous!

If Liverpool win today, they will go 13 points clear of Leicester at the top of the table and with a game in hand. There are no certainties in sport but, actually, the title would be pretty much in the bag and only a kinghell attack of the yips could thwart them then. So Liverpool’s real motivation now is to wrap up the domestic title as early as possible so that they can commit fully to retaining their European crown. The double is on!

Mind you, if Liverpool are greedy - and they’re looking mighty hungry for trophies these days -, they might eschew any domestic easing-off and aim for a season of invincibility on the home front while winning the Champions League again. Ridiculous? Yes. But that would just make it more glorious.

The thing that makes it possible - not probable - is that Liverpool have developed a remarkable efficiency, often managing to rationalise their output so that they do just enough to win. The match at Bramall Lane in September was a case in point: the Blades matched them for most of the game before Liverpool prevailed 1-0 thanks to a rare and shocking moment of inefficiency from the home team’s goalkeeper, Wayne Henderson. Sheffield United can take encouragement from how well they played in most of that game, and how fluent and formidable they have been in most matches this season, but they will also know that today they will need to be faultless to win. They can do it. Which does not mean that they will. But they might. These two teams have redefined the laws of probability.

All of which is to say: it’s up for grabs now...