Liverpool are given guard of honour by Chelsea after sealing historic league title – but Arne Slot’s side are BOOED by Blues fans at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea gave champions Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

The home players lined up on either side and applauded the title winners as they made their way onto the turf.

Blues fans loudly booed as their players welcomed their rivals onto the pitch, with captain Virgil Van Dijk leading out the newly crowned champions.

Liverpool wrapped up their second Premier League title in emphatic fashion with a 5-1 win against Spurs at Anfield last Sunday.

They are fifteen points ahead of second place Arsenal, who lost 2-1 to Bournemouth on Saturday, with a game in hand before Sunday afternoon’s encounter.

A long-standing Premier League tradition sees opposing players honour the new champions by applauding them onto the pitch before each game. 

Arne Slot’s side are set to receive a guard of honour for their remaining fixtures against Arsenal, Brighton and Crystal Palace, before lifting the trophy in front of the Anfield crowd on May 25. 

Liverpool won the title in 2020 with seven games remaining and received applause from their opponents, albeit without fans in the grounds.

Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch hit out at the tradition, saying he doesn’t know why guards of honour are given and that it’s ’embarrassing’. 

‘I don’t like it. Maybe it shows respect but I just don’t get it. It’s embarrassing for the team that comes out and it’s entirely embarrassing for the team that claps them on the field. It’s not for me’, Crouch said on TNT Sports.

Six-time Premier League champion Ferdinand agreed, saying: ‘I didn’t like it. I’ve been fortunate to receive the guard of honour and be on the receiving end of it (giving one).

‘Both are quite awkward. Crouchy’s exactly right.’

Nevertheless, before the clash Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insisted Liverpool ‘deserve’ a guard of honour, with the west London club having also performed the gesture in 2020.

‘Yes. It’s tradition. We have to do that, and we are going to do that. They won the Premier League, so they deserve it,’ Maresca said.

Blues defender Marc Cucurella mirrored the same views – but insisted the show of respect will cease as soon as the first whistle goes.

The Spaniard said: ‘They won the league. They deserve it. If we need to do it, we do it. This is before the game. Once the game starts, we go for our objectives.

‘We will fight with everything and for the three points. Hopefully we can have this as well in the next few years. It’s what we are fighting for and what we are trying to do.

‘It’s a good thing to have it (the guard of honour). I think if they ask me if we do it and we win the game, all of us would do it, easy. We need to do it because they won the league. Then when the game starts, we do our job.