Chelsea have given champions Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea players applauded the title winners as they made their way onto the Stamford Bridge turf.
Sections of Chelsea fans booed as their players welcomed their rivals onto the pitch.
Liverpool wrapped up their second ever 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 this 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.
Chelsea have given champions Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of their league clash
Chelsea players applauded the title winners as they made their way onto the pitch
Liverpool wrapped up the title after beating Tottenham 5-1 last Sunday
They will 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.
Liverpool won the title in 2020 with seven games remaining and received applause from their opponents.
Meanwhile, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch said he doesn’t know why guard of honours 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.
‘Both are quite awkward. Crouchy’s exactly right.’
Nevertheless, 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.
