Liverpool must return to earth and face the reality of clinching a place in the Champions League next year and finishing in the top four in the Premier League this season. A win at Stamford Bridge clinches this for the Reds, a draw is almost certainly going to be enough, but a loss puts everything down to the last day as it was last season. This massive week ends in London.
Team News:
The most exciting of news for the Reds is that Adam Lallana has returned to training following his hamstring injury. Lallana made the trip to Rome but was never actually in contention to play, and this seems to remain the case for Lallana and the Chelsea match. Jurgen Klopp says he will not rush him back but the hope is that Lallana will be able to return for the Champions League final in Kiev. His return would be a huge boost for the Reds as it would give them the additional midfield depth that they so desperately need.
Two more men remain potential short-term absences: Joe Gomez and Emre Can. Gomez has been ruled out of the trip to London trip as the details of what exactly his injury is remains hazy. Emre Can, meanwhile, faces a big day not tomorrow, but rather on Monday as it will be decided whether or not Emre can return to training and potentially play a role in the Champions League final as well. All three men with a chance to return for the final hopefully will as Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, and James Milner seem likely to start at Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp mentioned that because there are no new injury concerns, and with the importance of the match, it seems highly unlikely that much shifting and rotation will occur as we have previously seen in the Everton, West Brom, and Stoke games. Chelsea have a full first-team squad available excluding long-term absence David Luiz. Marcus Alonso will also return into contention as he is back from his three-match suspension. With both of these facts, and the importance that both managers clearly see in this match, expect both teams to send out a full-strength eleven.
Projected Liverpool Line-Up: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Projected Chelsea Line-Up: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger; Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Giroud, Hazard
Previewing the Game:
This is undoubtedly the biggest match of the season in the league for Liverpool. Sure, Liverpool could just leave it to the last day, but a win here would go a massive way for everything surrounding the team. It would bring peace of mind for the supporters, allow the players to be loose heading to the final match-day, and it would allow Klopp the freedom to rest his key men in that last game and allow some youth the experience of playing a Premier League match. With the same squad from mid-week available to them, a full squad for this big match seems highly likely, but I would look for the battle at right-back between Alexander-Arnold and Nathaniel Clyne in who gets the start to be interesting. Trent has been stellar, but perhaps giving the young Scouser a rest and starting the more experienced Clyne could prove well for the Reds.
Chelsea are hitting their peak form after a rocky majority of the season has brought discontent and calls that Antonio Conte will not return as Chelsea manager, the Blues have reeled off four straight wins, three in the league. With his full squad available to Conte, this is a must-win match for them. Chelsea run the back three better than anyone in the league but Mo Salah has ran roughshod over multiple back threes, and even scored on his former team in their first meeting of the season. The Egyptian will hope that Alonso is not at peak performance (if he does indeed immediately return into the side) and that he can find space behind him into some dangerous wide areas. It seems evident that the front line will need to propel this team to the positive result they crave by making life hard on the Chelsea midfield as they make runs through it while forcing out the full-backs, and in a perfect world the center-backs, to defend higher up the pitch and give others the space to run forward.
Of course, you cannot overlook the Chelsea attack. Eden Hazard and Willian were instrumental to the Chelsea comeback at Anfield, but it is highly probable they see an entirely different back line this time around. Oliver Giroud, over the 14/15 and 15/16 seasons, had four goals in four league matches against Liverpool with Arsenal, but this will be his first time against them in a Chelsea kit. Add in Hazard and Willian who make the wing-back selections even more important with their ability to drift into middle positions just as well as out wide, and you can see how the defense of Liverpool may have a tough time. This is the game that Virgil van Dijk was bought for, where he will need his size and technical ability to handle three different types of attacking threat. The match-ups at this end of the pitch seem most influential to the final score of this match.
Final Thoughts:
Coming down from the brilliant result mid-week will be tough. Chelsea will be motivated and need this more than Liverpool. For that reason, my final score prediction is a bit pessimistic:
Score Projection: Chelsea 2: Liverpool 1:
However, this does not mean Liverpool should be written off this game or the rest of the season. I think they certainly have a shot at winning this match, but being clinical will be essential and mistakes must be non-existent. When you have a game like this, and you are a big club, you must be getting a positive result out of it. Liverpool have their shot at continental glory coming up, for now they must achieve their domestic glory this weekend.
Team News:
The most exciting of news for the Reds is that Adam Lallana has returned to training following his hamstring injury. Lallana made the trip to Rome but was never actually in contention to play, and this seems to remain the case for Lallana and the Chelsea match. Jurgen Klopp says he will not rush him back but the hope is that Lallana will be able to return for the Champions League final in Kiev. His return would be a huge boost for the Reds as it would give them the additional midfield depth that they so desperately need.
Two more men remain potential short-term absences: Joe Gomez and Emre Can. Gomez has been ruled out of the trip to London trip as the details of what exactly his injury is remains hazy. Emre Can, meanwhile, faces a big day not tomorrow, but rather on Monday as it will be decided whether or not Emre can return to training and potentially play a role in the Champions League final as well. All three men with a chance to return for the final hopefully will as Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, and James Milner seem likely to start at Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp mentioned that because there are no new injury concerns, and with the importance of the match, it seems highly unlikely that much shifting and rotation will occur as we have previously seen in the Everton, West Brom, and Stoke games. Chelsea have a full first-team squad available excluding long-term absence David Luiz. Marcus Alonso will also return into contention as he is back from his three-match suspension. With both of these facts, and the importance that both managers clearly see in this match, expect both teams to send out a full-strength eleven.
Projected Liverpool Line-Up: Karius; Alexander-Arnold, van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson; Henderson, Wijnaldum, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Projected Chelsea Line-Up: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Cahill, Rudiger; Moses, Fabregas, Kante, Alonso; Willian, Giroud, Hazard
Previewing the Game:
This is undoubtedly the biggest match of the season in the league for Liverpool. Sure, Liverpool could just leave it to the last day, but a win here would go a massive way for everything surrounding the team. It would bring peace of mind for the supporters, allow the players to be loose heading to the final match-day, and it would allow Klopp the freedom to rest his key men in that last game and allow some youth the experience of playing a Premier League match. With the same squad from mid-week available to them, a full squad for this big match seems highly likely, but I would look for the battle at right-back between Alexander-Arnold and Nathaniel Clyne in who gets the start to be interesting. Trent has been stellar, but perhaps giving the young Scouser a rest and starting the more experienced Clyne could prove well for the Reds.
Chelsea are hitting their peak form after a rocky majority of the season has brought discontent and calls that Antonio Conte will not return as Chelsea manager, the Blues have reeled off four straight wins, three in the league. With his full squad available to Conte, this is a must-win match for them. Chelsea run the back three better than anyone in the league but Mo Salah has ran roughshod over multiple back threes, and even scored on his former team in their first meeting of the season. The Egyptian will hope that Alonso is not at peak performance (if he does indeed immediately return into the side) and that he can find space behind him into some dangerous wide areas. It seems evident that the front line will need to propel this team to the positive result they crave by making life hard on the Chelsea midfield as they make runs through it while forcing out the full-backs, and in a perfect world the center-backs, to defend higher up the pitch and give others the space to run forward.
Of course, you cannot overlook the Chelsea attack. Eden Hazard and Willian were instrumental to the Chelsea comeback at Anfield, but it is highly probable they see an entirely different back line this time around. Oliver Giroud, over the 14/15 and 15/16 seasons, had four goals in four league matches against Liverpool with Arsenal, but this will be his first time against them in a Chelsea kit. Add in Hazard and Willian who make the wing-back selections even more important with their ability to drift into middle positions just as well as out wide, and you can see how the defense of Liverpool may have a tough time. This is the game that Virgil van Dijk was bought for, where he will need his size and technical ability to handle three different types of attacking threat. The match-ups at this end of the pitch seem most influential to the final score of this match.
Final Thoughts:
Coming down from the brilliant result mid-week will be tough. Chelsea will be motivated and need this more than Liverpool. For that reason, my final score prediction is a bit pessimistic:
Score Projection: Chelsea 2: Liverpool 1:
However, this does not mean Liverpool should be written off this game or the rest of the season. I think they certainly have a shot at winning this match, but being clinical will be essential and mistakes must be non-existent. When you have a game like this, and you are a big club, you must be getting a positive result out of it. Liverpool have their shot at continental glory coming up, for now they must achieve their domestic glory this weekend.
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