Chelsea vs Liverpool Premier League: Match Preview, Predicted XIs and Injury News
Chelsea and Liverpool will be looking to right the wrongs of their most recent respective Premier League games. As such, the clash between the two teams is set to be hotly-contested – neither of them can afford another defeat.
In their last Premier League outing, Liverpool were stunned by Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
The Eagles took the lead early on in the game and it looked like Liverpool had snatched a draw when Federico Chiesa scored late on. Nevertheless, Eddie Nketiah extended Palace’s lead once again in added time. This time, Liverpool had no time to fashion a response and fell to their first defeat of the season.
Chelsea were also beaten in their previous Premier League game, as they were outclassed by Brighton at Stamford Bridge. They took the lead in the first half thanks to Enzo Fernandez, but Trevoh Chalobah’s red card sent the Blues into a tailspin.
In the last few minutes of the game, Chelsea completely unravelled. Danny Welbeck scored twice either side of a header from Max de Cuyper to give the Seagulls a famous win on the road.
Chelsea predicted XI
GK: Robert Sanchez
RB: Reece James
CB: Josh Acheampong
LB: Marc Cucurella
CM: Moises Caicedo
CM: Enzo Fernandez
RW: Jamie Gittens
LW: Pedro Neto
ST: Joao Pedro
Liverpool predicted XI
CB: Virgil van Dijk
CB: Ibrahima Konate
LB: Milos Kerkez
CM: Ryan Gravenberch
RW: Mohamed Salah
AM: Florian Wirtz
LW: Cody Gakpo
ST: Alexander Isak
Chelsea injury news
Chelsea have a minor injury crisis on their hands at present – however, given the size of their squad, you would be forgiven for not noticing. Levi Colwill, Cole Palmer, Tosin Adarabioyo, Liam Delap, Wesley Fofana and Dario Essugo will all miss out on the game against Liverpool due to injuries.
Trevoh Chalobah will also be absent as he sees out his suspension for picking up a red card against Brighton. Additionally, Mykhailo Mudryk is still unavailable following his anti-doping charges.
Andrey Santos could be fit to play – he will undergo a late fitness test ahead of the game on Saturday afternoon.
Liverpool injury news
Liverpool have a few injury problems of their own, but they are not as extensive as Chelsea’s. Giovanni Leoni and Alisson will definitely miss out – Leoni is out until the the new year with an ACL tear, while Alisson was brought off during the Reds’ 1-0 defeat against Galatasaray in midweek and could be out for a few weeks.
Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa are both injury doubts. Ekitike has a thigh issue, while Chiesa suffered a ‘niggle’ against Crystal Palace and missed out on the Galatasaray game as a result. Both players could be fit to play against Chelsea, however.
Match prediction
Both sides find themselves under the microscope presently, but Chelsea’s problems run far deeper than Liverpool’s at the moment. While the Blues are missing several key players, Liverpool can still call upon all of theirs, Alisson notwithstanding.
Chelsea will probably breach Liverpool’s defence on more than one occasion, but Arne Slot’s men should be able to outscore their opponents. With eight goals conceded in six games, Chelsea are fragile at the back – and they’ll be going inton this one without their best centre-back.
Final prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
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