Chelsea host Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as the first meeting of the season between two of the PL’s ‘big six’ will be extremely intriguing viewing.
After Mauricio Pochettino took over at Chelsea this summer, a lot has been expected from him. Being a decent coach who took Spurs to a UCL final, although, he was a disaster at PSG.
With world-class players like Messi, Ramos, Mbappe, and Neymar, he had lost the title to Nice. However, the same could be said about Chelsea last season as they were disastrous even after spending nearly £600m.
Liverpool and Chelsea have pressure to deliver
The London club finished in 12th, meaning they wouldn’t be participating in any European cups this season.
Thus, this is where the Argentine would be crucial. He would have a lot of pressure to make the team perform up to the desired standards.
Meanwhile, there is not much praise for Liverpool’s previous season but the only better thing was that they qualified for the Europa League by finishing 5th.
Klopp as well has a lot of pressure to deliver as he has lost many crucial players. The German doesn’t even have the depth let alone replacements for the departed players.
However, the Reds have signed Mac Allister and Szoboszlai but are yet to replace the departed Fabinho or Henderson. Hence, Klopp will have some work to do as the Reds have lost plenty of experience.
While reports of Moises Caicedo surface, the signing is not officially done yet.
Liverpool’s expectation this season is to finish back in the top four. They need Mohamed Salah to be at his best at one end.
While the newly-named skipper Virgil van Dijk has to regain his best form at the other end of the pitch.
For Chelsea, new signing Christopher Nkunku going down with an injury is a big blow for the Blues. The Frenchman looked sharp in preseason alongside fellow new forward, Nicolas Jackson.
Pochettino has given the captaincy to Reece James and he would be crucial alongside fellow England International, Ben Chilwell in the full-backs. The Argentine aims to get a high-pressing Chelsea side off to a positive start.
This would be an interesting clash to witness the new-look Chelsea take on the wounded Liverpool, who are trying to bounce back.
How to watch Chelsea vs Liverpool?
Kick off: 11:30 am ET (21:00 IST), Sunday (August 13)
TV Channel: Peacock
Online: Watch online via Peacock Premium, Hotstar
What Klopp is saying?
Klopp spoke about his plan for the new season when asked during the preseason.
“Yeah, so there is some football stuff we have to do and maybe have to sort, definitely. But that’s normal. The preseason never ends after the first Premier League game. It always goes at least until the first international break. After that we should be then in a different position, that’s clear. We have to use these full weeks without international football [which is] what we will do. We could, especially in Germany, train a lot on the physical part and on the tactical stuff and that’s really helpful.
[We] came out of the tour without big problems and so here we go again. It’s not done and dusted. We have four [or] five really important sessions until Chelsea, but then we have to make sure we put a proper fight in there. That’s exactly what we wanted from the first day of the pre-season, so let’s go.”
Team news and line-up options
Liverpool: The Merseyside club has only two injury concerns as of now. Both the players are in the midfield position with Thiago and Bajectic recovering from hip issues.
Moreover, Jurgen Klopp has so many attacking options to choose from. Jota, Diaz, Nunez, Salah, and Gakpo are all ready to roll for the new season.
Defensively, however, it is expected that Trent will start at RB but is likely to move into that hybrid midfield role. He even started in the midfield in the preseason.
Chelsea: Christopher Nkunku is out for several months due to a knee issue requiring surgery. This means that Chelsea are now without their main striker for the start of the season.
Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling are expected to start in attack. Meanwhile, Mudryk and Noni Madueke will also provide an option out wide.
It will be intriguing to see who starts alongside Enzo Fernandez in central midfield. Although the Blues are pushing to sign at least three new players in the midfield position, we might see Conor Gallagher play.
In defense, Wesley Fofana has undergone ACL surgery another huge blow for the young French defender.
Meanwhile, new signing Axel Disasi is expected to start and play a key role alongside Thiago Silva after his summer arrival from Monaco.
Benoit Badiashille is still out with a thigh injury, while Armando Broja is close to a return from his ACL injury.
A battle between the Blues and the Reds awaits not only on the field but also in the Transfer Market.
I’m a football enthusiast and an avid writer and someone who lives by the Bill Shankly quote, on a day to day basis.
