Manchester United fans’ fears that Liverpool will be flattened are well-founded: Rafael Benítez’s men look spent

The current Liverpool side is the least of Chelsea’s worries as they prepare for a match at Anfield in which victory will put them on the verge of the Premier League title or even make them champions, depending on an outcome elsewhere. If results were all that mattered, Manchester United would be more apprehensive about their trip to the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland are unbeaten since mid-December.

All the same, certain matters of plain