Chelsea Pre-Liverpool Team News & Injury Update: Cole, Cahill, Terry & More…

Chelsea take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday afternoon in a crucial game that could shape how the top-four ends up this season.

The Blues head into the game sitting third after their 3-0 win over Fulham in midweek but they could be back down to fifth by the time they kick-off at Anfield if Arsenal and Tottenham collect all three points in their respective fixtures.

Boss Rafa Benitez has been in front of the media on Friday and gave Chelseafc.com a team news and injury update with the latest on Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, Marko Marin and John Terry’s fitness.

Left-back Cole hasn’t featured since the defeat of Manchester United on April 1st due to a hamstring problem but he’s returned to training on Friday morning and could be in contention to face Liverpool this weekend.

Centre-back Cahill has also been on the sidelines in recent weeks but he too returned to train with the squad today along with midfielder Marko Marin and the trio will now face late fitness tests to assess whether they will take part this weekend.

Benitez was also quizzed about the fitness of captain Terry after he returned to the starting line-up to score a brace in midweek and the Spanish boss confirmed his skipper is training well and will be selected if he see’s fit. Here’s what Benitez told the clubs official website:

‘It is good news.  We have had Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole training today so that was really positive. Also Marko Marin, who wasn’t training. There are no problems apart from Oriol Romeu, the rest of the squad is fit. Maybe it is too early, but we will see tomorrow after another training session.’

The manager was also asked about the fitness of John Terry, who scored twice against Fulham on Wednesday night.

‘He [Terry] is fine, he is training with the team. He had a plan at the beginning and is now training with the rest of the team. He is an important player for us. If I pick him it’s because I think he is fine, if not it’s because I think a team-mate will be better for this game.

‘We have a lot of important games to play and we have to be sure everybody can give 100 per cent. I am really pleased with the commitment of every player.’

Now we’ve seen the teams what would be your preferred starting line-up for the game? Get involved in the comments section below.