Liverpool were held to a goalless draw at home to relegation-threatened Stoke City this afternoon as they were brought back down to earth with a bump following their Champions League exploits.
It looked as though normal service would be resumed early on when Mohamed Salah raced through on goal after only six minutes, but he clipped his finish wide of the target with what proved to be the best chance of the match.
Liverpool were left angry with the officials when they failed to spot an Erik Pieters handball late on, and Stoke almost produced a smash-and-grab win in the dying stages when Ryan Shawcross was close to turning the ball in at the back post.
Find out how all of the action unfolded courtesy of Sports Mole's minute-by-minute updates below.
The hosts will no doubt still be buzzing from their incredible 5-2 victory over Roma in the semi-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night, and their confidence heading into this contest will be in stark contrast to that of relegation-threatened Stoke, who are nearing last-chance saloon now.
It promises to be an important match at both ends of the table, so let's waste no time in having a look at the team news...
Well, one of the big question marks regarding Liverpool's selection was how many changes Jurgen Klopp might make with one eye on the return leg against Roma on Wednesday. Klopp insisted that they would not be wholesale changes, but he does make five to the team which started on Tuesday night.
There is also a change in formation as the Reds switch to three at the back, which is a move forced upon Klopp to some extent due to the injury problems Liverpool have been having in midfield.
Salah is on 43 goals for the season across all competitions following his brace against Roma, and now needs just four more to level Ian Rush's all-time single-season record for Liverpool.
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Salah is joined in the front three by Roberto Firmino, who has also been in scintillating form this season, but Sadio Mane misses out with a dead leg, handing Danny Ings another chance to show what he can do in a front three which has been unstoppable at times this term.
That change also sees room for Gomez and Klavan to come into the team, with Alexander-Arnold and Alberto Moreno providing the width. It may be slightly risky to chance formation when the team is playing so well, but it could be a risk worth taking if it keeps the team fresher for the return trip to Rome next week.
Ryan Shawcross and Bruno Martins Indi have established themselves as Lambert's preferred centre-back pairing, though, and they continue there today with Pieters on the left.
Crouch is now 37 but has four league goals to his name this season having spent the majority of the campaign coming off the bench. Liverpool have not been the best at defending aerial balls into the box this season, so his height could prove to be a valuable weapon today.
Shaqiri is likely to be one of the first players poached from Stoke should they go down, and Liverpool themselves have been linked with him in the past, so it will be interesting to see whether that affects his attitude at all towards the closing stages of the season.
One man who is likely to be busy today is Jack Butland, who is still battling to be England's number one for the World Cup and has also been linked with a move to Liverpool in the past. He is another who could well leave the Potters should they be relegated.
It is an important one too, with victory enough to temporarily take the Reds up to second and perhaps even seal a top-four spot once and for all - although that would depend on Chelsea's result against Swansea later today.
It could be the case, then, that by the end of next week Liverpool have wrapped up a Champions League final place and guaranteed a spot in the competition next season too, but to achieve the second half of that they need a win today.
On a far less serious note, Liverpool also lost Oxlade-Chamberlain for the rest of the season in that Roma match, as well as conceding those two late goals, so it wasn't quite the perfect performance from them, but having been given time to reflect on it they must still be full of confidence heading into this match.
That being said, Liverpool would do well to take heed from their most recent Premier League outing, which saw them seemingly comfortable with a 2-0 lead against bottom-of-the-table West Brom, only for the Baggies to launch a late comeback and draw 2-2.
A draw at Anfield would, of course, be considered a good result in isolation, but Stoke may just be hoping that Liverpool have one eye elsewhere for this one. Certainly the stats suggest that the Reds don't fare too well after Europe, having won just three of their last 10 Premier League games directly following a Champions League fixture.
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The Reds come into this match unbeaten in their last eight too, including a run of four in a row which could be improved to five today - something they haven't achieved since November 2016. Chief among the reasons for that good form has been their defensive record at Anfield, where they have kept clean sheets in five of their last six home games - the only exception being Tuesday's win over Roma.
Indeed, you have to go back more than a year for Liverpool's last home league loss now - against Crystal Palace on April 23, 2017 - and they come into this match having won seven and drawn one of their last eight. The Reds have also kept clean sheets in their last three such games, scoring 10 goals in the process.
The Potters have picked up just nine of the 51 points available to them on their travels this season, scoring just 13 goals and conceding 37 in their 17 away league matches - 10 of which have ended in defeat.
That run includes an ongoing 13-match streak without a win - 12 in the Premier League - so while their hopes of kickstarting a great escape are not quite dead yet, the likelihood of it happening here at Anfield looks very slim.
There are a cluster of teams still in range of the Potters, but many of them have played a game fewer and Stoke also have a vastly inferior goal difference to make their task even harder. It would take a fairly unlikely series of results for their relegation to be confirmed this weekend, but if Stoke do not win here then it is surely only a matter of time before they go down.
Stoke's final two matches of the season come against Crystal Palace and Swansea - both of whom are still fighting against relegation themselves and both of whom could still be caught by Stoke. It would probably take three wins from three for Stoke to survive from this position, but if they do pull off something special here then they will fully believe that such a run is possible.
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Indeed, not since January 20 - Lambert's first match in charge - have Stoke won a game in the Premier League, picking up only six points from a possible 33 since then.
One thing Stoke fans may be able to hold on to ahead of this match is that Paul Lambert has never lost an away game at Anfield as a manager, winning three and drawing two of his five such matches in all competitions.
Stoke have also conceded the opening goal of the game on a league-high 21 occasions this season, while only Man City have opened the scoring more often than Liverpool's tally of 25.
It is very hard to looks past Liverpool for this match, even with the changes from the midweek tie and the importance of next week's game. Often there is a hangover from such a high of Tuesday, but they look very well matched for Stoke today. I don't see another rout, but it should be a comfortable Liverpool win.
SPORTS MOLE SAYS: Liverpool 3-0 Stoke
Indeed, Liverpool have never lost in their 54 previous home top-flight games against Stoke, which is the longest ever unbeaten home run by one team against another in top-flight history. Those 54 matches include 43 wins and 11 draws, so to describe this is a bogey ground for Stoke is understating it a little.
The Potters have never scored a second-half Premier League goal at Anfield either, and in their last 16 visits to the stadium they have only managed to find the back of the net once in the second period - with that coming via Paul Bracewell in March 1983.
That includes a 3-0 triumph in the reverse fixture at the bet365 Stadium, when Salah scored twice after Mane had broken the deadlock in the first half. The most recent meeting here also saw Liverpool win by a three-goal margin, although on that occasion they needed to come from behind to win 4-1.
LIVERPOOL STARTING XI: Karius; Gomez, Van Dijk, Klavan; Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Moreno; Salah, Firmino, Ings
STOKE STARTING XI: Butland; Zouma, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters; Bauer, Allen, N'Diaye, Shaqiri; Crouch, Diouf
It was sensational play from Firmino to turn the ball into Ings's path, and the striker initially played the ball inside for Wijnaldum. Wijnaldum's shot is blocked and deflects back into the path of Ings, who does really well to squeeze his finish in from a tight angle. He has just strayed offside when Wijnaldum took his shot, though.
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Stoke are very much in this game and have created a few chances of their own, so Paul Lambert will feel that his side can get something from this game.
The winger did everything right by sitting Butland down and dinking the ball over the keeper, but he clipped it just wide when everyone inside Anfield was expecting the net to bulge. It was a sitter by his standards, but for once he could not make the most of it.
Liverpool have not been at their best, though, and Klopp will want to see more from his side in the coming 45 minutes. Stoke do deserve credit too, though, as they have made things very difficult for Liverpool's attack.
The best of those saw Bauer race forward down the left flank before playing a cross to the back post where Diouf was waiting unmarked, but he could only plant his header into the side-netting when he perhaps should have nodded it back across goal. Moments later Shaqiri also squeezed a dangerous low ball across the face of goal, but it was just too far in front of Crouch.
Alberto Moreno tries his luck from distance as Liverpool press for the opener.
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It is a point which may not prove to be enough on their battle against relegation, and in time it may actually prove to be more useful for Liverpool as they edge towards a top-four spot, but the Reds were far below their best today and will need to be much better against Roma in midweek.
Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's early kickoff as Stoke hold on for a goalless draw against Liverpool at Anfield. I will leave you with our match report, and be sure to stick around for reaction too.
From me, though, it is goodbye for now!