Saturday night Blues for Liverpool
Four days after doing battle in the Carabao Cup, Chelsea and Liverpool meet again. But the stakes are higher this time round with Premier League points to play for and two unbeaten records on the line. What will come of the biggest game of the season so far?
Blues hold psychological edge
I’ve heard many say that the League Cup match played on Wednesday night will hold no relevance come the start of the game on Saturday evening, which is nonsense in my view. Although both took the opportunity to hand squad players playing time and will naturally be a different proposition for each other at Stamford Bridge, key games between the top 6 tend to be decided by small margins and I fully expect the 2-1 victory to play a major factor here.
To have turned the game on its head in the manner Chelsea did will have hurt Liverpool, perhaps more than it would’ve pleased Chelsea, while the defeat will have surely placed an element of doubt in the minds of the Liverpool players before a ball is even kicked. Mentally, the hosts are already ahead.
How will Liverpool respond to first hiccup?
Liverpool are stronger this year, without doubt. Allison and Van Dijk in particular are demonstrating why Liverpool decided to pay £70 million apiece for the pair, and they’ve proved pivotal in The Reds reeling off seven successive wins, PSG included. But while their 100% record in the league remains intact, we’ve yet to see Liverpool respond to a defeat. Here, we’ll see what Liverpool are really made of in terms of becoming likely champions.
Avoiding defeat will be the objective, especially with their next two games in mind which includes a trip to play Napoli and an early title six pointer against Manchester City at Anfield. A loss though will leave the same old questions laid at the door of Jurgen Klopp about his side lacking the mentality to perform over a sustained period.
Forwards on fire
While the winner of the match will strike a huge signal of intent in terms of the league, the real winner could be the neutral who will be treated to a feast of attacking talent, all of whom are in fine form.
The devastating trio of Mane, Salah and Firminho have picked up where they let off last season and boast nine goals between them already. Meanwhile, it’s 5 goals in 4 games for Edin Hazard who is thriving under Maurizio Sarri and seems to have rediscovered his best form in the Blue of Chelsea, as we witnessed emphatically on Wednesday with his exceptional solo goal.
Match Tip
The bookies have Liverpool as slight favourites to extend their run. Yet, I believe the match in midweek has helped level this game up quite considerably and I see the hosts with the slight edge, one Liverpool may struggle to overcome.
What is crystal clear to me though is the ability of each in front of goal – both have struck 14 goals in six games and have already pierced each other’s defence this week so the two sides registering a goal is inevitable.
It’s going to be a closely fought encounter and while I feel Chelsea won’t be beaten, Liverpool’s start has to be taken into account.
Post bet chat Nick's Tips:
A fast, enthralling game played out I expected in the end, though Chelsea perhaps edged the best of the chances overall.