Published: 02:00, 4 November 2025 | Updated: 02:00, 4 November 2025

On Tuesday night, Anfield will host 22 of the greatest footballers currently walking God’s green earth.

They come from birthplaces which range across continents: Nagrig to Rio de Janeiro, Santa Rosa to Paris and Breda to Montevideo.

But before this showpiece fixture between the English champions and Spanish league leaders, whose museums hold 21 European Cups between them, the attention is on a lad from just round the corner.

So the only place to start yesterday was not in the press conferences of two of the world’s leading coaches, Arne Slot and Xabi Alonso, but with a stroll in the windy settings of Sybil Road, L4.

‘I’m just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true,’ reads some white graffiti on a black background next to a big illustration of Trent Alexander-Arnold and his iconic No 66 shirt.

It stands across the road from a homage to former captain Jordan Henderson, round the corner to one for record-scorer Ian Rush and a few doors on from one about the late...