Chelsea will honour Liverpool with a guard of honour when they host the newly crowned Premier League champions this Sunday at Stamford Bridge, confirmed manager Enzo Maresca.
Liverpool clinched their record-equalling 20th top-flight English title last weekend, establishing an unbeatable 15-point advantage over second-placed Arsenal with four matches remaining.
While there is no formal mandate for clubs to provide a guard of honour to the champions, Maresca expressed that his squad would assemble to welcome Arne Slot’s team ahead of the match.
“I believe it’s a tradition; it’s something we should do and want to do. Primarily, they’ve earned the title, so they deserve this recognition, and we hope to be there (as champions) ourselves very soon,” Maresca remarked to the press.
“I don’t think we need this gesture to appreciate the significance of winning the Premier League. We understand it’s an incredible achievement.
“However, it’s likely that in their minds, the players are thinking, ‘I’d like to be in that position one day’.”
Unlike their last title triumph in 2020, where players were prohibited from shaking hands due to COVID-19 precautions, Liverpool’s squad will freely shake hands with their opponents this time around.
During their previous title win, Liverpool clinched the crown with seven games left in the season, and every team they faced afterwards—including Manchester City, Aston Villa, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Newcastle United—gave them a guard of honour.
In 2023, Chelsea also honoured Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City with a guard of honour.
Chelsea are striving to secure a top-five finish to qualify for the Champions League, recently receiving a boost as Nottingham Forest, who are tied with the London club on 60 points, lost to Brentford on Thursday.
Despite having secured the title, Maresca believes that Liverpool won’t ease up on their performance.
“It’s always exciting to play in this type of match, but I don’t expect them to relax just because they’ve already clinched the title,” he added.
“They are a strong team and have rightfully earned the Premier League title this season. The gap is evident. I feel we are moving in the right direction, and hopefully, we can narrow that gap next season.
“Perhaps the key difference is that they have shown significantly more consistency than we have throughout the entire season.”
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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