On the face of it, there are plenty of reasons why neutral fans should be enthused by the prospect of Liverpool winning the league.

At their best, Jurgen Klopp's side are capable of playing a thrilling brand of high-octane attacking football. As tireless as they are talented, they have smashed club record after club record this season and are managing to keep pace with a Manchester City team widely considered to be one of the finest club sides in English football history.

Their dashing front three of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino comprise one of the best attacking trios in the game. Their defence, marshalled imperiously by the majestic Virgil van Dijk and backed up by the brilliant Alisson, is one of the most solid the English top flight has ever seen.

In Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, there is pace and creativity on the flanks; in Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum, there is honest industry and modern dynamism in midfield.

From young homegrown hero Alexander-Arnold to humble superstar Salah, their players are a likeable bunch. There are no hatchet men and (overlooking the occasional Daniel Sturridge sulk) no divas.

On top of being a skilled, proactive tactician and a master of man management, Klopp is a charismatic and endlessly quotable manager who seems perfectly in sync with the club's traditions. Anfield is one of the most historic venues in professional sport, and Liverpool's fans are renowned the world over both for their passion and their humour. After 29 long years without a league title, they have waited long enough.

From a neutral perspective, there is plenty to like about Liverpool. But when the weekends roll around and football fans take to social media to express their hopes and fears about the Premier League title race, it quickly becomes apparent that an awful lot of people are desperately hoping they fall flat on their faces (again). So why does nobody want Liverpool to win the league?

Baz Cass, 46, Everton fan

As a diehard Everton supporter and a Liverpool resident, Baz Cass finds himself with a front-row seat for a show that he would much rather not have to watch.

"As Evertonians, it's very worrying," admits Cass, who is a presenter on Everton fan channel Toffee TV.

"Like with any rivals winning anything, the biggest worry is the stick we'll get if they win it. There's an element that will enjoy lauding it over us more than actually winning it themselves.

"The scary thought is the stuff that will follow if they do win it. They go on about winning the European Cup in 2005 as if it were last season, so this will last for 20 years!"

A common refrain among supporters of Liverpool's rivals is that the club benefit from favourable treatment in the media.

"The media is flooded with [pro-]Liverpool journalists and ex-players, and they constantly talk Liverpool up," Cass says.

"Because of that, they've been treated as relevant even when they weren't challenging for titles. The last couple of years they've been fantastic, to be fair, but the media still go overboard.

"The worst thing is this assertion that they don't spend money. They've spent a crazy amount of money!"

Scott Patterson, 35, Manchester United fan

With Liverpool chasing the title and Manchester City vying for an unprecedented quadruple, Manchester United supporters would appear to face an impossible quandary when it comes to deciding which of their rivals they would prefer to win the league.

But in the eyes of many United fans, the issue is straightforward. Watching City eclipse their own 1999 treble would, of course, be horrible. But watching Liverpool close to within one title of their record of 20 English league crowns, after over 25 years of one-sided domestic dominance, would be unthinkable.

"If Liverpool win it, it's 20-19," says Scott Patterson, an Old Trafford season ticket holder and founder of the website Republik of Mancunia.

"Liverpool always have been and always will be our biggest rivals. The feeling of dislike towards them is much stronger than anything we have for any other club. We have seen City win it a few times in recent years and we coped. They're still miles off replicating the number of trophies we've won, so it's not the end of the world.

"But Liverpool winning it? Bleurgh. And they'll never shut up about it."

Patterson also has reservations about the amount of praise lavished upon Klopp, who, for all that he has achieved since he arrived in England in October 2015, is still to lead Liverpool to a single piece of silverware.

"Klopp has been at the club for close to four seasons and has won nothing, losing three finals," he says. "They've never even finished second.

"When you compare the way he has been viewed by the media throughout this time, compared to say, [Jose] Mourinho when he was at United, who won two trophies in two seasons and finished second, it speaks volumes. Even [Louis] van Gaal won a trophy!

"And when Klopp makes ridiculous statements to excuse why his team didn't win—like blaming United having three first-half substitutions because of injuries [in February's 0-0 draw at Old Trafford], or the wind, or the snow—it gets laughed off rather than being used as something to attack him for, as it would be for plenty of other managers."

Iain Rodger, 62, Chelsea fan

Chelsea season ticket holder Iain Rodger is also hoping City pip Liverpool to the title, a view that he believes is held "almost unanimously" within the Blues' fanbase.

Liverpool fans delight in accusing their Chelsea counterparts of having "no history" (as the terrace taunt goes), but Rodger believes the Merseysiders' focus on the past gives them a skewed perspective on their own standing.

"I grew up in the '70s, when they were the top team, and into the '80s," says the 62-year-old, who contributes to the Chelsea fanzine cfcuk.

"I understand where that sense of entitlement comes from, but when it's been 29 years [since they last won the league], surely that has to diminish slightly? I'm not disputing the fervour of any football fan, but why do they appear to think they have this divine right to be top of the table?

"There's an incredible amount of arrogance around the club, and I think a little bit of humility would go a very long way. Given their very poor Premier League record, they've got a fair bit to be humble about."

Another of Rodger's gripes is the degree of ceremony that has come to accompany the airing of "You'll Never Walk Alone" before each Liverpool home game.

"It has to be treated like a sort of sacred sacrament. It's like a hymn, it's like being in church. Everybody has to stop, including all the commentators," he says.

"And if you do travel to Anfield as an away fan, as soon as that song is over, they actually make very little noise."

Tom Hayward, 31, Tottenham fan

For Tottenham fan Tom Hayward, it is Liverpool's self-mythologising—typified by the "This Means More" advertising campaign—that grates the most.

"The attitude of it 'meaning more' is so brilliantly Liverpool," he says. "It's something they can cling to as some kind of [evidence of] spiritual intervention, but really, it doesn't mean anything at all.

"City are a financially doped club—their success doesn't really leave a dent on anyone bar United fans because it feels quite hollow. But Liverpool winning it would be unbearable."

Hayward, who hosted the Spurs podcast The Tottenham Way, feels that for all of Liverpool's historic achievements, their supporters' sense of the club's standing bears little relation to the team's current status.

"I think a lot of fans in the league dislike Liverpool's entitled attitude," he says. 

"There's a really interesting relationship between Spurs fans and their club compared to Liverpool. We are extremely self-deprecating, programmed to fear the worst and used to a lack of success.

"Liverpool have had a pretty similar decade to us—lost big players to big clubs, come close to success without actually winning anything, dovetailing with us in the Europa League and Champions League—yet their fans seem utterly convinced of their superiority."

James McNicholas, 32, Arsenal fan

Arsenal supporter James McNicholas, who tweets at Gunnerblog, says he is relaxed about the prospect of Liverpool winning the league. In his opinion, what sticks in the throat of some Arsenal fans is the knowledge that Liverpool's recipe for success could—and perhaps should—have been replicated at the Emirates Stadium.

"City's wealth is always going to allow for a certain degree of dominance, and their title triumphs will, in time, all blend into one," he says.

"It's the ones who break the pattern that will be remembered. That's why a lot of Arsenal fans don't want to see Liverpool do it: because, effectively, their success would demonstrate Arsenal's failure."

McNicholas believes that Klopp deserves credit for harnessing the emotion that swirls around Liverpool and making sure that "in an increasingly commercial football landscape" the club has retained "a sense of culture."

But in spite of his admiration, the thought of Jordan Henderson hoisting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season still gives him a degree of foreboding.

"Liverpool fans can be a bit mawkish, and that romanticism can sometimes bubble over into sentimentality," McNicholas says.

"It's a bit exhausting to think that if Liverpool win the league this year, there'll probably be songs about the glory days of Divock Origi being sung in 30 or 40 years' time."