Preview: Liverpool vs. Chelsea
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LIVERPOOL VS. CHELSEA
| Sunday, October 20th |
Premier League | Anfield
4:30PM GMT/11:30AM EST
Liverpool return to action after the international break, shockingly not for the early afternoon Saturday game. On Sunday they'll be taking on Chelsea in what is sure to be an interesting contest. While the benefit of a Sunday fixture is that precious extra day of rest, it means that it's likely Liverpool will be bumped down from the top spot after Manchester City and Arsenal both play their games.
Chelsea are doing well this season, sitting in fourth with 14 points. They've also racked up some high goal tallies, including six against Wolves and four against Brighton. Liverpool have only conceded two goals this season, one of which was at Anfield in their loss against Nottingham Forest. We'll see what happens when the goal happy Blues come up against the airtight Reds on Sunday.
Chelsea will have an advantage, because Alisson Becker was felled from a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace. In his place will be the trustworthy Caoimhín Kelleher, a strong goalkeeper in his own right, but not the world class talent of Alisson.
Good news for Liverpool is that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk both returned early from the international break, which means they'll have had some extra recovery time.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Jones, Gravenberch; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Jota
Aside from Alisson, the other missing player is Harvey Elliott and perhaps Federico Chiesa. These first games after a break always depend on the condition that they players return in. This time, Slot admitted that they've got "quite some" issues coming back, citing both Alexis Mac Allister, Kostas Tsimikas, and Wataru Endo are late assessments.
For Chelsea, Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella both received their fifth yellows in the slapstick comedy that was their last game against Nottingham Forest, which means that they won't be available.
What the Managers Had to Say
Arne Slot: "Chelsea does really well. If you look at the league table then they are the ones that might be our toughest opponent. But it's not always about the league table. Sometimes it's about the form of the day, it's about their game plan."
Enzo Maresca: "Probably in the last five, six, seven, eight years, Liverpool were more contenders with City, they were always very, very close for the Premier League and even Champions League. But hopefully, we can be again both be there competing for titles. Is this a title clash? I don't see, in this moment, Chelsea as close to these kinds of clubs for many, many reasons. For sure we work every day to be closer to that club."
The Officials
Referee: John Brooks. Assistants: Simon Bennett, Darren Cann. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: Michael Oliver. Assistant VAR: Stuart Burt.
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