No Frenchman, no Premier League. Klopp could change this

With 27 games played of the season's 38, Liverpool sit atop the English Premier League with 66 points, and a serious chance of being crowned champions for the first time since 1990. They are, however, only one point ahead of Pep Guardiola's title holders, Manchester City, but if they were to hold on then - thanks to some observant soul at the Mail - they would achieve the feat without one normally important ingredient, a Frenchman.

Liverpool

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Kante, Viera, Makélélé...

Every team that has lifted the league trophy since the 1999-2000 season has had a Frenchman within their ranks. Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, Claude Makélélé, Nicolas Anelka, Laurent Blanc, Patrice Evra, N'Golo Kanté... are just some of the stars from across the channel to have helped their side to the ultimate domestic accolade. Before that year, Eric Cantona, Nicolas Anelka and Remi Garde had reigned supreme, completing the list of 27 Tricolor-clad players to have won the Premier League since its inception in 1992.

Liverpool did have some Frenchmen on their books, but with the sale of Mamadou Sakho to Crystal Palace two seasons ago for 28.2 million euros, the last remaining member departed. This almost changed last summer when Olympique Lyonnais star Nabil Fekir was on the verge of joining, right up until the very last minute when negotiations broke down. The influence of French players is clear across the Premier League with Burnley being the only other club not to have a Frenchman in their squad.

The last 27 champions of the Premier League

So, will Jürgen Klopp see this as an extra incentive to create recent history, or feel that it means history is against him? We tend not to think he'll even consider it!