That’s all from Anfield today, then. Over to Simon Burnton for the 3pm kick-offs ...
And now here’s Anfield’s Paul Lambert. “I think it’s a brilliant result, coming here. Liverpool played a lot of their big hitters. We were outstanding. We defended strongly and could have nicked it. We were excellent. I can’t ask any more. I think it would have been really harsh for the referee to give the penalty, it would have been incredibly harsh. If the team had played like that all season, Stoke City wouldn’t be in this position. Everyone’s written us off, but we’ve got a chance. The lads have been playing well. We gave them an absolute fight.”
A post-match word from Jurgen Klopp: “It was not the performance I wanted, we could play much better. Stoke defended deep. But I take the point, it is one more point. It could have been worse. Obviously it looked for me like a penalty, but we didn’t get it. We have to take that. In the Champions League one or two times against City we were lucky. Now we have to carry on. It’s an important point. We need another three. If football is fair, we will take those three points! We are not in the most comfortable situation squad-wise, but I have heard nothing serious has happened [today] so let’s carry on.” A very smiley interview there, Klopp clearly trying to take the pressure off his players ahead of Roma by raising the mood a bit.
Here’s Paul Wilson’s report from Anfield:
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson has a different opinion, you’ll be surprised to hear. “I think we should have won. We dominated. It looked like a clear penalty, and I’ve looked again on the telly, it’s a blatant penalty, if he doesn’t touch it with his hand Alberto Moreno is there for a tap-in. It’s a really poor decision from the referee and the linesman. They’ve ultimately cost us the three points. We’ve got to take it, move forward, and we’ve a couple of games left to try to get to next season’s Champions League. I should be fine for midweek.”
Stoke City’s Joe Allen on Georginio Wijnaldum’s cross hitting Erik Pieters’ arm in the box during the closing moments of the match: “No, that’s by his side, and it happens, it shouldn’t get given. We’d have felt hard done by if that had been given. Defensively you can’t ask for more.”
So here’s where that leaves both teams. Liverpool stay in third on 72 points, nine points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea, who have played two fewer games. Chelsea-Liverpool next week could be a doozy. Though their superior goal difference over the Londoners suggests a win at home in their final game over Brighton should be enough to guarantee them a top-four spot, whatever happens at Stamford Bridge.
Stoke meanwhile move up to 18th, on 30 points. They’re three points shy of Swansea in 17th, having played two games more than the Welsh side. They’ve also played two more than West Ham, Huddersfield and Southampton, so they surely have to win their last two games against Crystal Palace and Swansea to have any chance of survival.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City
It’s all over. Stoke have defended brilliantly against an under-par Liverpool, and grab a point that could yet be precious in their desperate battle to avoid the drop.
90 min +6: A half-chance for Salah, as Ndiaye misjudges a bouncing ball to the right of his goal. But the ball doesn’t drop for him. Then Pieters and Firmino grapple under a high ball. Anfield desperately cry for a penalty, but they’re never getting that.
90 min +5: Salah and Firmino buzz about the edge of the Stoke area. They’re desperately trying everything, but Stoke are holding their shape.
90 min +4: Milner, out on the right, dinks one into the middle. On the penalty spot, Wijnaldum twists his body but can only send a header harmlessly over the bar.
90 min +3: Meanwhile on the pitch Stoke continue to hold firm. Henderson tries to lash home from 25 yards, but settles for a corner.
90 min +2: ... while John Achterberg, Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach, has been sent to the stand for protesting the non-penalty decision a bit too much.
90 min +1: Van Dijk has been booked, incidentally, for a transgression in midfield ...
90 min: Moreno tries to convert a left-wing Wijnaldum cross with a 15-yard backheel. Nope. There will be six added minutes.
88 min: And then Stoke are inches away from scoring! Ndiaye wins a header on the edge of the Liverpool box. Diouf powers down the left, then hooks across the face of goal. For a second it looks like creeping into the bottom right. Shawcross slides in, hoping to make sure. But he can’t connect properly. What a glorious chance, gone begging!
87 min: Liverpool work the ball to Salah on the right. Salah feeds Wijnaldum down the channel. Wijnaldum crosses hard into the middle. The ball slaps into the arm of Pieters. That looked a good shout for a penalty, because Pieters’ arm was well away from his body ... though he was trying to pull it away. You can see both sides, though you’ve also seen them given more often than not.
86 min: Liverpool pass it around a lot. Eventually Clyne opens his legs down the right and earns yet another corner.
85 min: ... Stoke push up quickly to catch Clyne offside. Stoke have been very impressive at the back this afternoon. They’ve hardly given Liverpool a sniff, Salah’s early chance excepted.
84 min: Van Dijk has a blast from 30 yards. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right. The set piece leads to another. From which ...
82 min: Stoke are first to everything right now. The game’s all played out in the midfield, but Stoke will be happy enough with that, the clock very much their friend now.
81 min: It’s Stoke’s turn to push their opponents back. Liverpool can’t get out of their final third right now.
80 min: Moreno gets up. So, eventually, does Ndiaye. Paul Lambert is ten minutes, plus stoppages, away from doing another number on Liverpool at Anfield.
79 min: Moreno skitters down the left. He’s stopped unceremoniously - but fairly - by an excellent sliding crunch from Ndiaye. Both players are hurt as a result, but there was nothing wrong with a perfectly timed tackle. The physios trot on and do their thing.
77 min: Liverpool win another corner down the right, Ndiaye getting a toe in to stop a romping Clyne. There’s a half-arsed shout for a penalty, as van Dijk is nudged under a high ball by Ndiaye, but it’s not given. And then there’s another corner, which is a total non-event. Liverpool are seriously struggling as an attacking force today.
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75 min: Moreno, deep on the left, curls a dangerous ball towards the far post. Salah is hovering. Zouma is forced to get in the road and hack out for a corner. The resulting set piece comes to nothing.
73 min: Liverpool’s game has gone very scrappy. Milner rakes a dreadful crossfield pass in the general direction of Clyne on the right touchline; Clyne has no hope of keeping it in. It’s the Stoke fans making the most noise now, for the first time this afternoon.
71 min: Van Dijk nudges Diouf in the back, in the centre circle. Stoke take their sweet time to restart the game, understandably so from their point of view. Anfield has fallen a bit flat, nerves and anxiety having won the day.
69 min: Liverpool are pressing Stoke back again. But despite the best efforts of Clyne, Firmino, Henderson and Moreno, nobody’s teed up for a shot. At one point a bouncing ball rears up onto the hand of Ndiaye, but it’s accidental and never a penalty.
67 min: Van Dijk, deep on the left, rakes a diagonal ball towards Clyne, bursting into the Stoke box from the right. Clyne tries to cushion a header inside for Firmino; he’d have been better taking a shot. Then another attack ends with Moreno yanking a low shot wide right from a position out left. It’s Liverpool’s 14th effort of the day; they’ve only managed two on target.
65 min: Liverpool make a double change: Clyne replaces Alexander-Arnold, while Milner comes on for Ings. Meanwhile Stoke make their second swap of the afternoon, Crouch making way for Fletcher, formerly of Manchester United and welcomed accordingly.
64 min: Ings chases a long, high ball down the middle. He comes together with Bauer, just inside the box. All fair, though the increasingly agitated home support wanted a penalty kick. Nope.
63 min: Salah and Firmino take turns to do a lot of bustling on the edge of the Stoke area. The visitors are holding firm.
62 min: Salah dribbles in from the right and aims a curler for the top left. It’s blocked the second it leaves his boot.
60 min: Stoke have conceded 32 goals in the final 30 minutes of matches this season. That’s the worst record in the division; West Brom are next up on the list with 28. That might give Liverpool succour. They certainly need something; they’ve been very flat since the restart.
58 min: Sobhi strides down the left and cuts inside. He looks to curl one powerfully into the bottom right, but his shot is blocked by a fine lunge from Gomez. Klavan clears the loose ball. Stoke are well up for this.
57 min: Liverpool might be misfiring this afternoon, but their fans are doing their bit. A fine atmosphere in Anfield right now, as the home support urge their team on. Not much in the way of response from the players, it has to be said. On the touchline, Klopp has his grim face on.
55 min: A game of pinball down the Liverpool left. Eventually the ball squirts out to Wijnaldum, who makes room to shoot. But not enough, because when he eventually pulls the trigger his effort is blocked. Liverpool try again, Salah battling Pieters under a long ball just inside the area. Salah wilts to the floor but he’s never getting a penalty for that. Pieters had stood his ground, nothing more.
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54 min: Sobhi’s first act is to dribble with purpose, past Gomez down the left. He reaches the byline but can only scoop the ball into the arms of Karius at the near post. A few hearts in mouths around Anfield for a couple of seconds.
53 min: Diouf challenges Moreno down the Stoke right. He wants a corner, but it’s a goal kick. He argues with the linesman, then clips Moreno on the ankle after the restart. Having already been booked, he wants to be a wee bit more careful.
52 min: Martins Indi is helped off the field, to be replaced by Sobhi.
51 min: Martins Indi is now down, requesting treatment. He’s clutching his groin, and Pieters is performing the universal mime for Substitute This Man. Allen is still moving gingerly, incidentally, though seems determined to battle through his own problem.
50 min: ... Salah blasts well wide from the left-hand corner of the box.
49 min: After a spot of treatment, Allen is back on. When play restarts, Gomez sends a long diagonal pass to Moreno, tight on the left touchline. Moreno earns a corner. From which ...
47 min: Allen is down, left boot off, holding his toe. There was no contact, he went down while in full flow. A concern for Stoke now.
And we’re off again! Liverpool get the ball rolling for the second half, now kicking towards the Kop. No changes, which suggests Henderson took a sore one on the ankle, but nothing more. Alexander-Arnold had been discussing a sore thigh with Klopp before the break, too, so it’s all welcome news for Liverpool with their midweek trip to Rome in mind.
Half-time soothing balm for anxious Stoke fans:
HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City
A scoreline that doesn’t particularly please either team. Though Stoke will be a lot happier with life at the moment.
45 min +1: Firmino drifts into space down the right and curls into the Stoke box. There’s nobody there in red. Butland gathers, though only after a nervous fumble.
45 min: Henderson continues to receive treatment. He eventually gets up, and limps off the field, but is immediately back on. There will be three added minutes of this fascinating first half.
44 min: Some real concern for Liverpool here, as Henderson goes over on his left ankle. He might have taken an accidental kick from Shaqiri, and Liverpool will hope that’s a sore whack rather than a twist. Anfield falls quiet. Their captain is grimacing quite a lot.
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42 min: Diouf is booked for a totally pointless hack at Moreno’s ankles. Both of the players were off the pitch, the ball having gone out for a throw.
41 min: Liverpool put the ball in the net, but the flag’s up for offside. Firmino bustles past Crouch down the left, then Wijnaldum bests Allen down the same channel. Wijnaldum’s shot is deflected to Ings on his left. From an incredibly tight angle, Ings lashes home. But he’s an inch offside. It’s a really tight decision, but the correct one.
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39 min: A bit of space for Shaqiri on the right. He hooks low into the middle. Diouf is waiting to meet the cross from close range, but Klavan dives in to clear with a very necessary header.
38 min: Anfield is tense, but it’s not gone quiet. The home fans try to lift their team with a run through the songbook. The ruse doesn’t work. Stoke look comfortable right now.
36 min: Crouch is booked for a poor tackle on Firmino in the centre circle, his leg cynically dangled across the marauding Brazilian.
34 min: Alexander-Arnold strokes the ball down the right for Salah. Butland, coming out to claim a heavy pass, should claim, but he fumbles, allowing Salah to take up possession just outside the area. Salah looks to dribble back inside, but he’s obstructed by Pieters. Free kick, which Salah whips towards the top right. It’s inches wide, though Butland had it covered. It’s not been Salah’s day so far, but he’s not stopped working.
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32 min: Liverpool are beginning to push Stoke back. They’ve enjoyed 63% of possession in the last ten minutes. Butland hasn’t had to make a save of note during that period, though.
30 min: It’s gone scrappy. Salah dribbles through the centre circle, then passes to nobody. Crouch strides off with the ball before giving it up in short order.
28 min: Better from Liverpool, as Firmino diddles his way past Ndiaye on the left to reach the byline. His chip inside is deflected to Wijnaldum, just to the left of the D. Wijnaldum snatches at his shot, pulling it wide left of the goal. Butland might have been in trouble had that been tucked towards the bottom left.
27 min: Moreno is sent into plenty of space down the left. He’s got options forward and right, but clanks a pass into a white shirt, then repeats the trick when he’s gifted the rebound. More noises of concern, and we’re not even at the half-hour mark. The business end of the Premier League, ladies and gentlemen.
26 min: Van Dijk rakes a pass down the right in the hope of finding Salah. The ball flies straight through to Butland. Anfield groans. Frustration abounds. This game is now set up exactly how Stoke want it.
24 min: Stoke are playing very well indeed. Shaqiri is busy and brilliant. Liverpool are hesitant, not their normal selves at all. Firmino has hardly had a touch of note.
22 min: Liverpool are a bag of nerves. Shaqiri romps down the right and lashes a low cross through the six-yard area. Crouch is an inch away from connecting with one of those telescopic legs. Had be managed to get a toe on the ball, he’d have scored from close range, because Karius was on walkabout. Van Dijk, pressurising Crouch from behind, gets the credit for Liverpool’s let-off.
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21 min: Wijnaldum, deep on the left, swings diagonally for Salah, who cushions a pass inside from the right for Alexander-Arnold. Alexander-Arnold tries to dink over the advancing Butland, but the keeper blocks well.
20 min: Gomez over-commits in a tackle down the Stoke left, allowing Bauer to escape down the wing. He’s got acres to romp into. He crosses deep for Diouf, who heads into the side netting from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Gomez really got away with a headless-chicken lunge there.
19 min: Anfield has already succumbed to nerves. An aimless hack upfield by Karius doesn’t help, and Liverpool are fortunate that Crouch doesn’t control properly 30 yards out, with the home defence all over the place, and Shaqiri and Diouf in close attendance.
17 min: Diouf slides in late on Henderson. Again, it’s clumsy, rather than aggressive, but the next robust Stoke challenge might give the referee a decision to make.
16 min: Liverpool knock it around the middle of the park awhile. Stoke line up in two banks of four. Nothing to report.
14 min: Zouma comes through the back of Ings in the midfield. It looks clumsy rather than nasty, so he only receives a talking-to, rather than a yellow. You’ve seen them given, though to be fair Ings doesn’t complain once he’s finished grimacing with the sting of the tackle.
12 min: Moreno, deep on the left, very nearly releases Salah into the Stoke box down the middle with a glorious curling pass. It’s an inch or two too heavy, and Salah can’t connect. I hesitate to say this, but I’ll do so anyway: there’s surely no way this game is going to end goalless. It’s very open, with both teams wasting no time in getting on the front foot.
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10 min: There’s a nice, open feel to this game. Both teams playing very much on the front foot. Shaqiri tries to release Diouf again from deep, but Karius comes out of his box to clear with his head.
8 min: Shaqiri is seeing plenty of the ball early doors. He skitters down the right but can’t get past Moreno. Then he nearly sends Diouf free down the middle, having dropped deep to act quarterback. That’s intercepted, but he looks in the mood today.
6 min: BREAKING NEWS: MO SALAH IS ONLY HUMAN! Henderson sends him scampering away down the inside-right, Pieters having been caught too far upfield. He’s clean through. Surely this is the opening goal ... but the chip he dinks over Butland floats wide right. That’s some miss from a player who has scored on his previous seven appearances at Anfield. To be fair, he’s got a bit of moral credit in his back pocket.
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4 min: Firmino chests down on the edge of the Stoke box and slips a pass along the inside-right channel for Alexander-Arnold. For a second it looks like Alexander-Arnold might get a shot away, but there’s pressure from Pieters behind, and he miscontrols out of play. He clashes with Butland, and takes a while to get up, but he’s fine.
3 min: Shaqiri hits the corner too long, but Liverpool only half clear, and Stoke win another corner, this time down the right, thanks to Bauer. But again Shaqiri smacks the corner over everyone. A let-off for sleepy Liverpool. And a fast start for the visitors, who may have decided that there’s really nothing to lose this afternoon.
2 min: Van Dijk plays a simple pass straight out of play for a throw. The first groan of the day, and perhaps an early sign of nerves. On the touchline, Klopp smiles, a little frost around the teeth. And no wonder, because Stoke immediately earn themselves a corner. down the left flank.
And we’re off! Stoke get the ball rolling. They’ll be kicking towards the Kop in this first half. It looks as though Alexander-Arnold is playing in midfield today, with Moreno at left-back and Gomez on the other side of the defence.
The teams are out! Liverpool wear their storied red shirts; Stoke therefore swap their famous red-and-white stripes for third-choice white. A fine Saturday lunchtime atmosphere greets the players. A burst of You’ll Never Walk Alone, and we’ll be off before you know it!
Paul Lambert has won at Anfield with Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He’s drawn here with Norwich City. He’s never been beaten as a manager at this stadium. He’s also, like Jurgen Klopp, a Borussia Dortmund legend. Plenty of Kop-bothering stories that could be written here today, and that’s before we get to Peter Crouch and Joe Allen returning to their old stomping ground. Anyway, here’s Lambert talking to Sky: “We come here without any fear. It’s about our team, and what we can try to achieve. We’ve done everything we could to get results, but we need more than that. We have to get after it, get on the front foot. We have to put a marker on the game. It’s a difficult place to come, but on any given day we can win.”
Jurgen Klopp speaks to Sky Sports. “We have no choice but to make these changes. Each game is a Champions League game for us; this game against Stoke is for qualification next year. We want to be a part of it again. The next game is a semi for this year’s Champions League. My first thought was to pick a line-up that will beat Stoke. This group are ready, and ready, and ready again. We have filled our toolbox, and now we have to use the right tools. We know Stoke are fighting for survival. It’s a big target. We need to defend at the highest level and create our moments. It is clear they are strong in attack. We need the crowd and I hope they are on their toes.”
A nice touch by the Liverpool players in support of Sean Cox, the fan critically injured before the Roma match last week. They’ve hung the shirt of his GAA team, St Peter’s, alongside the kit of Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino in the Anfield dressing room. Rodgers and Hammerstein had a song about that sort of gesture. Everyone in football will be wishing Sean the speediest of recoveries.
Liverpool make five changes to the team sent out against Roma in midweek. Dejan Lovren, James Milner and Andrew Robertson drop to the bench; no risks are taken with Sadio Mané; and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is of course sadly injured. In come Joe Gomez, Ragnar Klavan, Alberto Moreno, Georginio Wijnaldum and Danny Ings. That man Mo Salah therefore continues his bid to become 2017-18’s leading Premier League scorer.
Stoke City by comparison keep it real. Just the one change from the side that drew with Burnley last week. Kurt Zouma comes in for the injured Glen Johnson, who is denied a run-out at his old place of work.
The teams
Liverpool: Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, van Dijk, Klavan, Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Moreno, Salah, Firmino, Ings.
Subs: Clyne, Lovren, Milner, Mignolet, Robertson, Solanke, Woodburn.
Stoke City: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters, Shaqiri, Allen, Ndiaye, Bauer, Diouf, Crouch.
Subs: Ireland, Adam, Cameron, Fletcher, Haugaard, Sobhi, Campbell.
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands).
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Good morning Anfield!
Liverpool should finish the season in the top four of the Premier League. They should. But then again, they might not. The concession of a couple of sloppy late goals at the Hawthorns last weekend, at the cost of two precious points, has made their task harder, more stressful, more in-the-balance than was strictly necessary. Another misstep here, and if Chelsea go on to ... well, there’s no need for us to do the maths. Liverpool fans have already worked out all the permutations, poring over the table and fixture list, fingernails bitten to the quick. They know the score. Hey, at least it took the mind off Roma.
Stoke City have their own concerns. They’re near the relegation precipice, and defeat this lunchtime will set them teetering on the furthest edge. Their chances of registering the win they undoubtedly require today seem slim: they haven’t won since January; they’ve lost their last four games against Liverpool; and they’ve never, ever, ever won at Anfield in the top flight of the English league system. But to counter that (in ascending order of relevance): they did win three League fixtures at Anfield during a four-year period in the 1950s, albeit in the old Second Division; they won here a mere two years ago in the semi-final of the League Cup, though subsequently lost that two-legged tie on penalties; Paul Lambert has never lost at Anfield as a manager, winning three and drawing two of his five matches.
Both teams are absolutely desperate for the three points. Both teams retain hope. Both teams will also fear the worst. All the ingredients for a drama-filled classic, then. It’s the Premier League. It’s the business end of the season. It is very much on!
Kick off: 12.30pm BST.
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