Chelsea will meet Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday in a fixture that has gained unprecedented importance for the home side. A win for Liverpool would be vital, as it would indicate that the Reds have enough fuel in their tank to compete for top 4. However, for Chelsea, the word defeat would seem synonymous with disaster as it would surely mean the end of Jose Mourinho’s 2nd tenure at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will be coming to this match on the back of an exhaustive defeat which crashed them out of the Capital One Cup. Thus, with five losses in the last ten games, Jose Mourinho will find himself in a pressure cooker situation to get the right result on Saturday.
As far as Liverpool are concerned, they have enough reasons of their own to worry. The Reds have managed to score more than 1 goal just 1 all Season and their defense hasn’t improved as well. In 4 of their last 6 matches, the Reds have scored the first goal of the game but win still alluded them on all those occasions.
Thus, while revenge from Jose Mourinho would be sweet, Liverpool have to make sure that they don’t inject new life into Chelsea.
Team News
Here is the team news for Chelsea Vs Liverpool.
Chelsea:
Looking at their form coming into this game, Chelsea doesn’t need any more obstacles to haunt their Season. They have 4 injured players coming into this game only one of which could make an impact on Saturday.
Diego Costa was subbed off early on against Stoke City due to a rib injury. With initial reports of his scan yet to come out, the magnitude of injury of the Spaniard is still not clear. However, according to initial reports coming out from the Chelsea camp, Costa should be fit to feature against Liverpool.
Apart from that, both Pedro Rodriguez and Branislav Ivanovic have been ruled of this game. However, Mourinho would be delighted to welcome back Nemanja Matic after the defensive midfielder served his suspension after getting a red card against West Ham.
Liverpool:
If there is one team in England that has been most unfortunate this Season when it comes to injuries, the name of Liverpool football club comes in our mind. The Reds are the most injury scathed unit this term as 8 of their first team players have been sidelined coming into this game.
Liverpool will definitely feel the absence of former Chelsea player Daniel Sturridge, who has again been sidelined ahead of a tough away trip to Liverpool. Sturridge injured himself in training ahead of the Tottenham game earlier this Season and will also miss the trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Apart from Sturridge, the likes of Jordan Henderson, Danny Ings and Joe Gomez are long term absentees for the Reds.
Head to Head (Last 5 fixtures)
Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool
Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
Liverpool 0-2 Chelsea
Key Battle (Willian Vs Alberto Moreno)
In such a time where players like Hazard and Costa have failed to shine for Chelsea, it is the Brazilian Willian who has taken the responsibility for the blues. It was his resurgent performance against Newcastle that earned Chelsea a hard-earned draw and the Brazilian hasn’t looked back since. In Alberto Moreno, he will face an opponent who likes to get the better of opposition players with pace. While the pace is an ingredient that could be found abundantly in the game of Willian as well, this battle promises to be a tasty one on Saturday.
Probable Lineups:
Chelsea
Begovic – Azpiliceuta – Cahill – Terry – Zouma – Fabregas – Matic – Hazard – Willian – Oscar – Costa
Liverpool
Mignolet – Clyne – Skrtel – Sakho – Moreno – Lucas – Can – Milner – Coutinho – Lallana – Benteke
