Liverpool players will give Chelsea a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge after winning the Premier League title

Steven Gerrard's side will have to clap the recently-crowned Premier League champions onto the pitch ahead of Sunday's encounter

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers (Getty Images)

It hasn’t been a good a season to be Liverpool fan. The club look likely to miss out on the Champions League, their talisman Steven Gerrard has decided the time is right to leave and their brightest young talent is pushing for an exit of his own.

But before Raheem Sterling can make any plans to force through a move away from the club, he’ll have to take his place among the Liverpool ranks as they line-up a few metres outside the players’ tunnel at Stamford Bridge to give newly-crowned Premier League champions Chelsea a guard of honour on Sunday, according to the Liverpool Echo.

The 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace saw Chelsea clinch their first Premier League title since 2010, and a fourth since club owner Roman Abramovich took control of the club. Chelsea supporters at Stamford Bridge will relish the sight of Gerrard and Co clapping the Blues onto the pitch, but Jose Mourinho may not be as happy with the gesture as you may have thought.

“I don’t like it,” said Mourinho. “I think, in Spain, they did it for us at Real Madrid.

“If it’s tradition, that’s no problem for me. But you can show respect for the winner in many different ways.

“If some of them don’t want to be there and they are there just because somebody tells them to be there, maybe it’s a bit artificial.”

However, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers – who faces increasing questions over his future due to Liverpool’s drop in form and Jürgen Klopp’s availability in the summer, says his former employers Chelsea more than deserve the respect of the rest of the Premier League.

Liverpool players will form a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge in Sunday (Getty Images)

Asked if the champions deserve a guard of honour, Rodgers siad : “Absolutely. This club is based on dignity and respect and class.

“Whoever is the champions, that’s what you do.”

It echoes the harrowing fixture against Chelsea that the Anfield outfit experienced last season, when Gerrard’s infamous slip and subsequent goal from Demba Ba severely dented Liverpool’s hopes of a first Premier League title since 1990. A victory at Stamford Bridge would go a long way to forgetting that day though, with Manchester United’s slip-up against West Brom on Saturday giving Rodgers’ side the faintest of hopes of a top-four finish.

Chelsea had to give Manchester United a guard of honour in 2007 (Getty Images)

Chelsea have had to suffer the embarrassing-yet-respectful experience of forming a guard of honour before themselves, having applauded Manchester United onto the pitch at Stamford Bridge back in 2007.