Chelsea and Liverpool will look to get their stuttering campaigns back on track when they clash at the Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel’s side are still searching for consistency after a blistering start to the campaign. With the league fixture list as compact as it is, any sort of good form almost counts double at this time of year.
Impressively, Chelsea have stuck to their DNA under their German boss, even when games get uncomfortable and edgy, they always stick to the same principles, it doesn’t always look the same, but the principles don’t change. Reece James still wants to get up into attacking areas of the pitch and has scored some goals again. Jorginho has been superb all year and they will likely start Romelu Lukaku up front.
The last time these teams met, Chelsea would have felt hard done by. They dominated Liverpool, but they made a mistake at a crucial time and in a crucial area. I’m not sure anything would need to change. Liverpool will be aggressive going forward and Chelsea will often frustrate them and use Lukaku as an outlet option to hold up the game and bring his wingbacks into good areas. People often speculate around the challenge between Lukaku and Liverpool’s defenders (I was one of those people), but I don’t think that’s where the true challenge is.
The real battle will happen in the middle of the field. Both these two sides rely heavily on the ability to transition seamlessly and effectively. In both cases, it is done through the middle of the field. Now, this might not be a popular opinion, but I think Chelsea have the better players in the middle of the pitch. So, the question then becomes, how do Liverpool stop that?
Liverpool
Liverpool have been impressive for the most part this season, although their untimely loss against Leicester earlier this left Klopp fuming as Manchester City open up a seemingly insurmountable gap.
The side were forced to take some time off due to the COVID-19 disruption before the defeat at Leicester. They will travel to London with Fabinho, Van Dijk and Thiago, players who certainly can change the outcome of any game they are a part of.
In fairness to Liverpool, they play an incredibly fast-paced style and players need to be outrageously fit for the their blitzkrieg tactics to be effective. The business of the festive period cannot be something which helps, and it might explain their sort of lacklustre attacking displays of late.
Now before the knives are out for me again, all I mean is that there seems to be a tiredness in Liverpool’s game that isn’t always there. The quality is undoubted and evident… they just seem reactive which is largely uncommon. In their game against Spurs, they never really looked as though they were ever ahead of the game and bossing it.
This won’t be an easy game for them, and the absence of their 50 thousand plus passionate fans won’t help, but I’m not sure they lose.
Prediction: Over 2.5 + BTTS (11/10)
I don’t think it’s worth looking for a winner here. If you put a gun to my head, I would go for a draw, only because I think Chelsea come into the game in a better place and Liverpool can be so much better than their last three games.
Neither side will want to lose the game obviously, but I don’t think either will try and kill the game either. Liverpool will still attack relentlessly, but Chelsea has the players to get behind defensive lines and play football in half-spaces. I suspect an intricate sort of game, but for my money over 2.5 and both to score at 11/10 is good enough. Take the bet, sit back and enjoy!
