Liverpool vs. Chelsea, Premier League: Preview, team news, how to watch
Today at 01:02 PM
Litmus test
Chelsea have had a relatively easy start to the season in terms of schedule-strength, and we've leveraged that into a top-four position and some good vibes under the new management. But things are about to get a fair bit tougher, starting with Sunday's trip to Anfield to take on league-leaders Liverpool.
The Reds have made an even better start to the season under their new manager, Arne Slot, who seems to be handling the transition from Jürgen Klopp with an unusual level of aplomb and success. It's never easy to be the first one in after such an iconic figure as Klopp, but Slot's won nine of ten in all competitions, conceding just four goals all told. They're on pace to concede just 11 goals in the league, which would break Chelsea's seemingly unassailable record of conceding just 15 goals (25 clean sheets) in 2004-05 — and probably put an end to the whole Virgil van Dijk vs. John Terry: who's the greatest? ... "debate". (The answer is, of course, Ricardo Carvalho.)
We can do our part to ensure that our record continues to stand.
Date / Time: Sunday, October 20, 2024, 16.30 BST; 11:30am EDT; 9pm IST
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Referee: John Brooks (on pitch); Michael Oliver (VAR)
Forecast: Gusty winds, chance of rain
On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); USA, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD1 (India); SuperSport Premier League (NGA); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Disney+ Hotstar (India); DStv Now (NGA)
Liverpool team news: Other than the change at manager, Liverpool made almost no other moves this summer ... before signing the lesser-spotted Federico Chiesa from Juventus on deadline day and also agreeing a future move for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Meanwhile, defender Joël Matip retired, as did perpetually injured midfielder Thiago Alcântara. But they kept the rest of the team together, and that was the best move they could've made.
On the surface of it, there seems to be nothing remarkable about Slot and his type of football, but perhaps that's just because it's not as flamboyant and wild and Klopp's heavy metal (even if that got tamer as the years went on). There's nothing better than effective winning football, and that's exactly what Liverpool appear to be doing right now. Slot's won the Dutch league and cup with Feyenoord and almost got them a European trophy as well, and if he keeps this up, he just might add a few more medals to his cabinet.
The one big absence for Liverpool continues to be Alisson, though Caoimhín Kelleher is a most excellent backup and he's yet to lose against Chelsea in three tries (including the finals of the the 2021-22 and 2023-24 League Cups). Harvey Elliott's out as well, with a fractured foot, while Wataru Endo and Chiesa will be gametime decisions.
Chelsea team news: We have practically no injury concerns at the moment(!!!), though obviously Reece James has just returned to full training this week after a couple months out, so he won't be ready to shoulder a full load — and it sounds like we'll be managing his workload very, very, very carefully going forward anyway. Ben Chilwell has been dealing with a minor illness, which normally wouldn't factor into the matchday squad decision, but first-choice left back Marc Cucurella is suspended, and so is fellow defender Wesley Fofana (both due to yellow card accumulation). We'll see if Renato Veiga is trusted in Cucu's place on such a big occasion or if Enzo Maresca has some other solution up his sleeve. The manager has kept a pretty clear line between first-choice (Premier League weekends) and second-choice (midweek Cup action) selections up to this point in the season, but that line might start to blur now.
View from the enemy:The Liverpool Offside
Previously: Other than an embarrassing 4-1 defeat here last season, our recent record against Liverpool is fairly decent and features a ton of draws ... and cup final defeats. We have to go back ten games, to over 3 years ago to find one that we actually won: Mason Mount with the game's only goal for new England manager Thomas Tuchel's Blues — which remains our only win at Anfield in the last ten years.
