These two sides met at Anfield on Wednesday, Chelsea making the comeback and defeating the Reds 2-1 to knock them out of the Carabao Cup. That was the sparring session between these two teams. Tomorrow at 12:30 PM EST two of the final three teams yet to lose a match in the league will square off in a pivotal early season meeting for both sides, but especially Liverpool as Napoli and Manchester City wait for them on the horizon.
Team News:
Looking at the midweek clash between these two sides should give us a solid idea of what the available teams and starting line-ups could be. Let's start with Liverpool. Sadio Mane got the start in red and played 70 minutes, coming off for Roberto Firmino who made a cameo ahead of the weekend. Mo Salah was involved for just the final five minutes or so as Liverpool chased a tying goal, to no avail. All three players, you would expect, will get the start on the weekend, especially as their usual subs Daniel Sturridge and Xherdan Shaqiri both played all 90 minutes of the midweek bout. In midfield, James Milner came off at the 60 minute mark and Jordan Henderson moved onto the pitch. Gini Wijnaldum was not involved, while Naby Keita played all 90 and Fabinho was sacrificed for Salah in the name of searching for a goal. Wijnaldum and Milner would have to figure to remain locks in the starting line-up, while the third man seems a bit tougher to call given Henderson's lackluster performance when coming on. Finally, in defense, Dejan Lovren made his debut seeing all 90 with Joel Matip, while Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne played the wing backs. I expect full subs on the defensive end, including in net with Simon Mignolet returning to the bench for Alisson.
Chelsea's man-management was just as interesting, with most of the focus on Eden Hazard's appearance for 35 minutes in place of Willian. Hazard always performs against Liverpool, something I will talk more about, and will absolutely get a start on the weekend. Likewise, N'Golo Kante played 25 minutes, coming on for fellow usual starter Mateo Kovacic, and will likely return to the starting line-up for Maurizio Sarri as well. Cesar Azpilicueta played all 90 minutes, and will likely to the same again on the weekend, but other than him, no true starters saw all 90 for Chelsea. Jorginho, Marcos Alonso, and Antonio Rudiger were held out of proceedings, as was first-choice keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, and David Luiz only played 15 minutes as well. Alvaro Morata played all 90 minutes and I would be surprised if he gets the start over Olivier Giroud, who also loves a goal against Liverpool.
In terms of injury concerns, both teams have limited misses. For Liverpool, Dejan Lovren returned from his injury while Dominic Solanke was named to the bench highlighting his readiness. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Gini Wijnaldum missed in the midweek fixture with illness and a knock, respectively, but Virgil van Dijk is the key concern with his aggravated bruised rib. I am confident in his fitness and I think Liverpool will get their standard first choice defense in the league available for Saturday's match. For Chelsea, Antonio Rudiger, as I mentioned, was held out of the midweek game due to a groin pull, but I think he is even more likely to play than van Dijk. Pedro is a doubt with a shoulder injury, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is too with a foot problem, and Andreas Christensen suffered a knock in the cup tie, but these three would likely not figure in to the starting line-up if healthy. That said, they do represent a potential slight lack of depth if none are fit.
Projected Liverpool Line-Up: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson; Wijnaldum, Milner, Keita; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Projected Chelsea Line-Up: Arizzabalaga; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Alonso; Jorginho, Kante, Kovacic; Willian, Giroud, Hazard
Previewing the Match:
Until Chelsea's 0-0 draw with West Ham, this was set to be a battle of the only two teams remaining with exclusively wins in the Premier League. It didn't work out like that, but for Liverpool this is a big early chance to get some separation between themselves and a side who are playing like a surefire title contender. Oddly enough, Stamford Bridge has provided more recent moments of joy for Liverpool than Anfield when it comes to facing Chelsea. Despite last season's late-season draw, Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 away in 2016 and 3-1 away in 2015, both matches, though, featured different managers for Chelsea and vastly different personnel for both sides than those who will feature in this year's tie. It's always been a rivalry based on competitiveness rather than geographical location, as the Football Manager games would be happy to point out, and we are in for another year of that surely continuing.
Sarriball is the latest footballing buzzword as a result of Chelsea's hot start. It describes how a Maurizio Sarri team will play. Very fundamentally, it comes down to a possession-based style of attacking football, with one-touch passing when available, a higher press up the pitch, and the side playing from out back. The Chelsea team is really quite adequately prepared to play in this manner: David Luiz is a wonderful passer from the center back spot, N'Golo Kante has been outstanding in his more attacking role, Jorginho remains under the tutelage of Sarri and plays the deeper role well, then of course you have Eden Hazard who Sarri is still working at making sure he stays in the final third of the pitch to be an attacking threat. The attacking mindset of Chelsea is vastly different than the more structured defensive set-up under Antonio Conte, and the side certainly are still working at become the well-oiled machine that Sarri wants from them.
One of the areas of play I can see Liverpool hoping to take advantage of is the battle of the press. With Liverpool's own press and newfound solidity in the back of the park, Chelsea's more newly-implemented style of play lacks a bit of that familiarity that those in the Klopp system have had for multiple years now. If Liverpool can press Luiz and Antonio Rudiger at center back and force them to play it long consistently, as opposed to Chelsea working it through the midfield or over to the left side of the pitch, that allows Liverpool to regain possession themselves and play the ball forward through the back. Likewise, Liverpool will also play from out back and finding bits of space, especially in the midfield area where Chelsea has allowed some gaps in space at times as players find their footing in the new system. If these opportunities are there with Chelsea higher up the pitch, I look for Liverpool to push the pace and run forward behind the Chelsea defense as their own midfielders look to spot Sadio Mane or Mo Salah making a forward run.
Of course, no preview is not complete with talking about two players who love tormenting Liverpool: Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud. In the league with Arsenal, from 2012-13 to 2015-16, Giroud scored five in eight league matches, and had the lone goal in the 1-0 Chelsea win in this fixture last season. Hazard, meanwhile, has six goals against Liverpool in his Chelsea career, including the winner in the midweek EFL Cup bout. Both provide different skill sets for Liverpool's defenders to stop and Trent Alexander-Arnold is going to be given one of the toughest challenges he's had yet in trying to slow the Belgian winger. Virgil van Dijk being available for Liverpool would be vital in handling the physical threat that Giroud has to offer. Giroud's goal against Liverpool last season was typical of him, as Dejan Lovren was not able to win the header against him. Joe Gomez is surely going to be key in covering both Hazard and Giroud, and the speed of the men in defense, even on the right with Andy Robertson covering either Willian or Victor Moses, being essential in slowing the attack.
Final Thoughts:
This match is a massive one for Liverpool as they stare down their two biggest rivals immediately before the international break. Things have gone considerably well so far with victories over Tottenham and Southampton in the league and PSG in Champions League play, but Liverpool now look at arguably the three toughest matches of the fixture list they knew before hand. How they will respond in knowing that Chelsea has seen them once this week, and how they themselves will respond to having seen Chelsea, is going to be crucial in deciding the match.
Score Prediction: Chelsea 1: Liverpool 1:
A draw is not a bad result at all at Stamford Bridge, and I think that's what Liverpool will get. I fear Chelsea could easily snatch a winner, we saw how they can do that with the feet of Hazard so quickly midweek, but I think a draw is a bit cautiously optimistic in terms of result. This could be perhaps Liverpool's toughest league fixture this season, full stop. It's going to say a lot about this side with how they deal with a challenge like this after their first loss in any competition this season.
Follow me on Twitter @RMAB_Ryan for more LFC coverage, including live Tweets during the matches, as well as AFC Ann Arbor and Michigan basketball coverage!
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