Chelsea : Chelsea has been under a revolutionary change after the last season. They have brought in big names and has settled their side. On the other hand Liverpool with their latest inclusion of midfielder Thiago and forward Diogo Jota has strengthened their side from before. So the clash will be mouth-watering to say at least, as two England’s big clubs are facing each other for the first time in the season.
Chelsea has been good under Frank Lampard. He made a young Chelsea side qualify for the Champions League last season, as the team finished fourth and inclusion of big names like Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz has changed the dynamics of the side. The 3-1 victory against Brighton has made them confident before facing the Champions Liverpool. Though the last time when these two teams met it ended in some embarrassment as Liverpool won the match on a 5-3 score line. Chelsea keeper Kepa was badly criticised for his performance in the match. So on a fresh day and a new season, Chelsea will be optimistic about themselves. They know that a victory against Liverpool can change the course of the side in the early stages of the season. So they are hoping over the German duo Werner and Havertz for goals.
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— Chelsea FC News (@Chelsea_FL) September 20, 2020
Frank Lampard in the pre match interview has said, “This is not a game about making a statement. It’s the second game of the season, and we were probably in pre-season zone in terms of our fitness at Brighton because of quarantine and international breaks. Now we take on the best team in the country last season. It’s a nice challenge for us to go head to head with them. They were the outstanding team last year, and we competed in every game against them. They will always give you a tough match, and we will have to push the limits and try and close that gap. That’s the challenge in front of us. “As a player I always felt that adrenaline and feeling for a game at this level, and it’s the same for a coach. I know we’re going up against a great team, I’m going up against a fantastic coach, so you want to do well. When I was playing the games were ultra-competitive and very difficult for us. In modern-day terms it looks slightly different because Liverpool have been fighting to win the league, and last year they did. We are now trying to improve and close that gap, and that competitiveness is what the Premier League is all about.”
Champions Liverpool on the other hand are a confident side to face any challenge. They have been playing as an unit for three years now. Champions of last season had a blistering start with a victory against Leeds United, on a 4-3 scoreline. So before facing Chelsea at the Bridge they look confident and are willing to win. Oxlade-Chamberlain is out of injury the only concern for Klopp but the addition of midfielder Thiago Alcantara has been a big signing for the Merseyside club. They look set and run for another title race and looking to win it back to back. But Chelsea will be a stiff challenge for them and they know about it. Mo Salah and Sadio Mane will be the one on whom they are dependent for goals and no doubt they are scoring like clockwork. Jurgen Klopp knows the importance of the match and will not take much risk while setting up his side.
Take a look at the Reds' latest workout with a gallery from Friday's session at Melwood 📸👇
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 19, 2020
Jurgen replied to the media after they asked about Thiago and his chances to play against Chelsea, “We will see. I didn’t make the squad now for Sunday. We will see what we can do. I didn’t meet him now, we had only phone calls and exchanged messages. So, let’s have a look how he feels. Around a transfer like this the days are pretty busy with things you usually don’t do. If he looks alright, we will find the right place for him.”
When asked about the match against Chelsea, Jurgen was optimistic as he replied, “Last year we played Chelsea pretty often and pretty early in the season. All the games were really difficult, so that’s what I expect, first and foremost. The first game against Brighton was how it looks when you play Brighton. I’m not sure but when you play Brighton we all suffer because they just play good football and you have to be decisive in the key moments and that was the story of the game pretty much. Pretty early it’s clear we actually have absolutely no idea who Frank will line up – so many different options. Because we don’t know a lot about Chelsea in the moment – during the season that will probably change – we just have to focus on ourselves. There’s enough work to do with that for different reasons. We are very early in the season, so we had an intense week of work. [We] worked – how we see it – on decisive stuff. A lot of things were good in the first game, some things were not that good. I know that but it’s the first game, so we don’t make it less important or more important than necessary, just work with it and use it as one information. All the rest of the week was absolutely good so far. So now we have to make sure that we can transform that on the pitch because we better be at our best otherwise it could be really, really tricky.”
Possible Chelsea XI
Goalkeeper – Kepa
Defence- James, Zouma, Christensen, Alonso
Midfield- Kante, Jorginho, Havertz, Mount
Forward- Werner, Loftus-Cheek
Possible Liverpool XI
Goalkeeper- Allison
Defence- Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson
Midfield- Henderson, Fabinho, Keita
Forward- Salah, Firmino, Mane
