Day one of the Business End of the season is a biggie, then

Easter historically marks the point on the calendar where things in the world of football begin to sort themselves out, the effective start of the Business End of the season, and this year has been no different. Derby County’s relegation to the third tier for the first time since 1984 was confirmed on Monday. Burnley look nailed on to be heading in that direction too, if the sacking of Sean Dyche, Maxwell Cornet’s radar, and the state of that takeover are anything to go by. And the immediate future of a couple of other clubs could be shaped on Tuesday as well, depending on what happens at Anfield between Liverpool and Manchester United. You may as well watch it, there’s nowt else on.

United’s last visit to Merseyside was a fiasco for the ages, a post-lunch walkabout at Goodison Park in which they achieved what had previously been thought impossible by making a Frank Lampard team look vaguely tactically coherent. They surely can’t be as bad this time, though even worse is as likely an outcome as better, if the lumpen attempt to paper over the cracks with Saturday’s scraped victory over Norwich, who were allowed to score two goals for only the sixth time this season, is anything to go by. Still, hope springs eternal, and a surprise win would boost their hopes of a top-four finish, which are somehow still alive, what an indictment of the self-styled best league in the world.

Defeat for the side nominally led by Ralf Rangnick would surely put an end to their Big Cup pipe dreams, though on the plus side it would allow their fans to keep shouting at Paul Pogba, which everyone seems to enjoy doing. A Liverpool win would send Jürgen Klopp’s men top, for 24 hours at least, and keep the title race alive, though any points dropped