"Now we have to keep going." These are the words of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who despite his elation with the "world-class" Mohamed Salah's match-winning goal to defeat Brentford - the Egyptian's record-breaking ninth in a row at Anfield - maintains an air of pragmaticism ahead of Liverpool's late-season objective.

Sinking the Bees gave the Reds a sixth successive victory in the Premier League, but despite the colourful purple patch, top four remains a stretch away, with the fifth-placed Anfield side trailing both Newcastle United and Manchester United by four points.

With imperilled Leicester City awaiting tonight, the Merseyside squad will understand the task with perfect clarity; leaving with three points is paramount if the tantalising thought of Champions League football next term will cement itself in reality.

To achieve this, Liverpool must be under no illusions that pitted against them stand a desperate Foxes outfit looking to ascend from the relegation zone with a season-defining result.

It will be a fiery affair, but Leicester's weakness lies in their shoddy defence, and as such unleashing the likes of Luis Diaz could be the formula to silencing the home faithful this evening.

Should Luis Diaz start vs Leicester?

The respective Premier League teams in question have been embroiled in dismal campaigns on either side of the spectrum: Leicester's illustrious stay in the top flight faces a miserable conclusion, while Liverpool's six successive years in the Champions League - with three finals reached and one triumphed in - is over unless one of the aforementioned rivals suffers a late-season collapse.

Seven victories in succession will indeed give Liverpool the optimum chance of pulling off a monumental turnaround, and to do so the offence must indeed harness the full scope of its might and terrorise a defence which has shipped 64 goals from 35 divisional outings this year - for reference, the Foxes finished eighth with 59 goals conceded across last year's edition.

With Diaz returning to full fitness, the away side will be expected to utilise his fleet-footed sorcery and wreak havoc on beleaguered City.

Signing for Klopp’s team for £37m at last season’s midpoint, Diaz swiftly asserted himself as an exciting presence and scored six goals and five assists en route to triumph in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Liverpool winger Luis Diaz

Starting the current term brightly, clinching the Community Shield and impressing across his first 13 outings across all competitions, plundering seven direct contributions and leaving his German manager waxing lyrical and hailing him as "world-class", like his Egyptian confrere on the alternate wing.

As per FBref, the 39-cap maverick ranks among the top 15% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for rate of non-penalty goals, the top 10% for pass completion, the top 10% for successful take-ons and the top 10% for aerials won, which underscores the mercurial dynamism of his trade, direct and unflinching against even the most formidable of defenders.

Presented with a starting berth, the "sensational" Diaz - as per one writer - could inflict misery upon Leicester right-back Ricardo Pereira, who is said to be fit again after a lengthy injury which has ruled him out since February.

The marauding full-back has started just four times in the top-flight this term due to his injury woes and yields an average rating of only 6.63, as per Sofascore, and against the £55k-per-week South American, he could find his task is too tall an order to prevent him from exhibiting his brilliance.

With such a meagre output on the defensive front, the 29-year-old will find it difficult to contain such a bouncing threat, and it could spell detrimental danger for the Foxes.

Liverpool, in retrospect, could revel in the increasing possibility of securing a place in next year's Champions League season; they must have their wits about them against a Leicester side desperate for a galvanising victory, but with Diaz in the mix, it will be anything but easy.