Chelsea vs Liverpool Preview | Team News | Expected Line-Ups | Predicted Score

Chelsea will be in confident mood following their Carabao Cup win when they take on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening. 

The Blues came from behind to inflict Liverpool’s first defeat of the season with a 2-1 win at Anfield on Wednesday night with Eden Hazard coming off the bench to score a stunning late winner to book Chelsea’s place in the fourth round of the League Cup.

Maurizio Sarri has enjoyed an excellent start to life in England and while their winning Premier League run came to an end with a 0-0 draw at West Ham last weekend, the west Londoners could go back to the top of the table with a win tomorrow.

However, Liverpool will be desperate to make amends for the midweek defeat which saw their perfect start to the new season come to an abrupt halt so Jurgen Klopp will be looking for a response from his players tomorrow.

The Merseysiders will take comfort from the fact they currently sit two points clear at the top of the table after winning all six of their league games so far and another victory tomorrow would open up a five point gap with Chelsea.

Team news

Chelsea are set to welcome Antonio Rudiger back in to the squad as he’s expected to recover from a minor knock while Pedro and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be handed late fitness tests after missing the last two games through injury.

Andreas Christensen was forced off at Anfield in midweek with a stomach bug but he should be fit tomorrow – although a place on the bench is the best he can hope for as David Luiz is set for a recall.

Kepa, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud are also expected to get recalls after being rested on Wednesday night.

Liverpool will hand a late fitness test to Virgil van Dijk after he picked up a rib injury last weekend but the Dutch international is expected to be passed fit to return in the middle of defence.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has also recovered from illness while Georginio Wijnaldum has shaken off a knock so they should be recalled along with the likes of Alisson, Andrew Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.

Expected line-ups

Predicted Score

Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool: The Reds have won only one of their last eight away games against the ‘big 6’ and it’s going to be interesting to see how they approach this game. A draw wouldn’t be a terrible result as Klopp will be desperate not to lose and fall behind Chelsea in the table but they know they can put some day-light between the two clubs with a win. Both teams have played some great football this season so hopefully it will be a decent game but I’m going for a cagey 1-1 draw.