Six of this weekend’s English Premier League fixtures will be played on Saturday. The curtain goes up at Anfield where two recent winners of the title in Liverpool and Chelsea find themselves languishing in midtable. The Blues and Reds have been poor this season, lacking the kind of consistency and scoring form we have come to expect from them in previous campaigns. Liverpool and Chelsea opened the season as contenders for Man City’s crown but now face an uphill challenge to make it to the top-four. A win here would help one side on the road to recovery, while hurting the other.
Liverpool holds the home advantage for this match, but will that be enough to see Jurgen Klopp’s side pick up its first win in three games? Perhaps you prefer the chances of a Chelsea side who arrive from London on the back of a dreadful run of results. The visitors won last time, but the overdue three points came after the Londoners took just one of the previous nine points available to them. You can watch the match live on TV from 12:30 GMT on Saturday and make your predictions with us. Our team of football writers preview Liverpool v Chelsea, bringing you the stats that matter and the form to be aware of when choosing a side. We aim to help our readers call this one correctly.
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Saturday’s match will be the first time these sides have met since May 2022 when playing out a goalless finish in the FA Cup. That draw means each of the last two Liverpool v Chelsea fixtures have ended goalless with the pair level in their last four. That is a strong hint that this weekend’s renewal will be another hard-fought and competitive contest. But will either side have the character needed to win the game, breaking the run of draws with what could be their most important victory of the campaign? Keep reading to find out more.
Reds suffer back-to-back defeats
Things weren’t going according to plan for Liverpool this season and that was before the Anfield club suffered two defeats on the bounce. Jurgen Klopp’s men may have opened the season back in summer as the pundit’s pick to challenge Man City for the title, stopping them winning three-in-a-row, but the players have failed to live up to expectations. They appear to be missing the influence of Sadio Mane who could be relied upon to score goals and pull them out of a hole when needed. Those left behind just aren’t pulling their weight and the league has slipped away from them.
Heading towards the weekend and their return to Premier League action, Liverpool can be found down in ninth place with their stats for the campaign thus far showing the hosts have eight wins, four draws and six defeats. That leaves them with a points tally of 28 which is five points fewer than Manchester United in fourth. Liverpool knows they can’t afford to miss out on a top-four finish and spot in next season’s Champions League. Failure to make it to Europe’s elite would severely damage the club’s income and could force them to sell some of their stars to help plug the hole in their accounts. Things are just about to get serious.
We last saw Liverpool in EPL action when they suffered a shock 3-0 defeat away to Brighton. Despite starting as the underdogs, the Seagulls hit the ground running and took the lead early in the second half thanks to a goal from March. He hit a second close after, making it 2-0 just six minutes later before teammate Welbeck rounded things off with a third near the end. Liverpool left the pitch in a state of shock, wondering how they managed a heavy defeat in a game that was goalless at the interval. Questions will be asked of the players and management team, meaning a reaction is needed here.
Blues fans have had it bad
Chelsea were another team that started the season with high hopes of winning trophies, both domestically and on the continent. But the Londoners have been miles off the pace, fans watching on as their side slip from one poor result to the next. It will make it worse for those suffering supporters than neighbours and rivals Arsenal are top of the league and looking like they could win the title. If Chelsea had been more consistent, they too could have taken advantage of Man City’s slack play.
The visitors trek from Stamford Bridge to Anfield sitting 10th in the league and looking a shadow of their former selves. Not often will fans have to scroll as far down as mid table to find the club they support, but their lowly position is the fault of the club and they have no one else to blame but themselves. Chelsea’s record ahead of this away day shows eight wins, four draws and seven defeats. Some of the teams that have lost fewer games than Chelsea this season include Newcastle United, Brighton and Brentford. The 28 points against their name means Chelsea are level with their hosts before kick off.
Despite their problems, Chelsea won last time out thanks to a 1-0 home cheer over neighbours and city rivals Crystal Palace. It wasn’t pretty and the Blues had to dig deep to get over the line and win what was a potentially dangerous fixture. The winning goal that day was scored by Havertz shortly after the hour mark and although they had chances to add to their tally, the Chelsea attack continued to look sluggish and off the pace.
Liverpool v Chelsea prediction
This is a must-win for both teams, but the threat of losing may out-weigh the hope of winning three points. With the pair producing so many draws in their recent meetings, it would come as no shock to see them share the spoils once more.
Premier League odds
22bet members can back Liverpool at 1.84 with Chelsea offered at 3.96 and the draw 3.88.
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