Football is built on myths.

Not in the pejorative or negative way, but in the sense of the epic. Rallying calls from history, great performances and comebacks, looking back over the nights which gave you goosebumps is part of the point.

Some will say that this is what Liverpool have over Manchester City this week as the Premier League’s two most exciting teams come together for a feast of football over the next week – their two Champions League quarter final legs punctuated by derbies of their own at the weekend. Liverpool’s history and the Anfield atmosphere supposedly standing in City’s way, and playing a huge role in the Reds’ favour.

That could yet be true. Football is attractive to so many people in all parts of the world mostly because there is more to it than meets the eye. There are few foregone conclusions, and the emotional side of the game is an important factor.

Liverpool also have history to draw on: Chelsea in 2005 and even in 2007, Borussia Dortmund in 2016 are alive in recent memory.

But the whips and chains of Anfield fetishisation have been unfurled this week with all the blush-inducing fervour of a fever dream. So much so that you would be forgiven for forgetting that this was a match between two clubs who can legitimately call themselves rivals.

This isn’t a David v Goliath clash between severe underdogs and seemingly unstoppable giants, the balance levelled only by the heart and passion of the smaller fighter. It is a game between two top Premier League sides: City may be miles clear in the table, but Liverpool are the only side to have beaten them so far. We’re expecting a thriller between two teams of roughly equal talents, not the sort of game where Liverpool will need to provide an inspired-by-Mourinho bus parking in order to limp through against superior opposition. In fact, that’s the whole reason why neutrals are excited.

Indeed, such build-up only serves to prove that those around Liverpool do seem to feel as though they are inferior on a footballing level. Reverting to chat about the Anfield atmosphere is legitimate, but not to the extent that it masks the actual football. There is no need to use it as a crutch.

There are plenty of less ephemeral reasons why Liverpool can win this game, all of them grounded in fact and logic and not in the performance of the Kop, as fervant and impressive as it under the lights of a European night.

Mohamed Salah is just a couple of Premier League goals away from breaking the record for most goals in the competition in one season; his debut season, no less. The Egyptian has 37 goals in all competitions this season. City’s defence hasn’t always looked imperious, and indeed it was at Anfield where it collapsed to its largest extent this season. If any team are suited to punishing City it’s certainly Jurgen Klopp’s side.

There are, then, plenty of reasons to believe that the Reds are well-placed to beat City without the need for an electric atmosphere on Wednesday night. That will be an added bonus. But when you look around at just some of the many pieces that have been written in the build-up to what could be the game of the season, you start to wonder whether there’s a sizeable chunk of those in Liverpool who want to disregard the many merits of their side in favour of leathering-up in the Kop.

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