Buxton: Don’t let long-awaited win be marred by a moment of madness
Liverpool supporters need to heed Klopp's call and not gather outside match venues
With the English Premier League's resumption following a three-month coronavirus stoppage, Liverpool and their supporters are getting closer to ending their 30-year wait for the top-flight league title.
But just one misstep could throw things into disarray.
While Juergen Klopp's side are unlikely to throw away their 25-point lead at the summit, certain things are not entirely within their control.
The Reds manager himself knows the risks that come with ending his side's much-awaited moment.
The Merseyside Derby showdown with Everton on Monday morning (Singapore time) is set to be an early test of the Reds supporters' restraint as much as the team's competitive staying power.
Klopp has publicly urged fans to resist the temptation of converging in the streets surrounding Goodison Park for the closed-door spectacle by watching from home.
Government ministers are already warning that clubs face the prospect of their future 2019/20 fixtures being relocated to neutral venues if fans refused to abide by the Covid-19 restrictions. The idea of playing in "safer" stadiums around the country has not disappeared by any means.
National police chiefs will think nothing of enacting the worst-case scenario at even the slightest hint of the club's following failing to adhere to the letter of the law.
Liverpool's support, more than most, will be under the microscope during the closing weeks of the campaign.
Half-baked hysteria led to the notion of Klopp's players clinching their title since 1990 while shunted hundreds of miles from their Anfield abode gaining an undue amount of traction.
Authorities concluded that Kopites simply cannot be trusted to suppress the urge to revisit their former creature comforts as the club's highly anticipated moment of truth draws ever nearer.
Recent history did little to disprove their prevailing view, following the unsavoury scenes which marred the Champions League quarter-final, first leg tie with Manchester City in April 2018.
HAIL OF MISSILES
A pre-planned coach welcome for both teams descended into a crime scene as Pep Guardiola's players were subjected to a hail of missiles as their vehicle made its final approach to Anfield.
The event had become a cultural happening, with people travelling the length and breadth of the country to stand in the terraced streets bordering the stadium to be part of the experience.
Many openly admitted to not possessing match tickets, but still felt it necessary to attend and provide ancillary support to their team's bus before the European encounter.
The ugly by-product became one which continues to be both widely discussed and derided to this day.
It is only thanks to the tireless efforts locally, including by grassroots fan groups, that Liverpool and Everton are both set to complete the campaign in their traditional surroundings.
Irresponsible behaviour by just a handful will bring all that hard work crashing down.
Klopp and the Liverpool hierarchy are already planning to hold the party to end all parties when it is finally deemed safe enough for them to parade the holy grail through the city.
The celebrations which marked their Champions League triumph a year ago, with 750,000 onlookers, will be a drop in the ocean compared to the euphoria of a post-1990 title win.
In the short term, however, fans of all ages and locations must continue to hang on to Klopp's every word, beginning with their return to action at Goodison and stretching far beyond it.
More will be lost than gained from attempting to get closer to their team.
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