It was always going to play out this way, wasn't it? To the surprise of no-one inside Anfield on Saturday evening, the decision to play the national anthem just moments before Liverpool's kick-off against Brentford went down like a concrete balloon.
The anthem - which was played to signal the coronation of King Charles at Westminster Abbey - was drowned out almost entirely by the sound of hearty roarings of disapproval from the Reds fans at Anfield. That outcome was as easy to predict as night following day after the decision from the club to agree to the Premier League "strongly suggesting" it be aired before each game across the division on Saturday.
Liverpool say they were put in "an impossible situation" by the League's 'request' at such short notice, particularly as plans were already in place to mark both an LFC Foundation event and Eurovision's arrival on Merseyside next week.
