Liver Pool vs Chelsea: A fight for advancement in points table

As the Premier league match between Liver pool and Chelsea is about to happen on Saturday 21 Jan 2023 at Anfield, England. The match would be between the ninth place and the tenth place teams in the league as per the points table.

            Despite the expectations of the fans to play finals with Arsenal, their poor performance in the league with 3-0 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion made a disappointment among fans. It has suffered six defeats at the league.

Big things were expected of Chelsea after it spent big in the close season. But after replacing Thomas Tuchel as the Blues boss in September, Graham Potter has failed to inspire his new side. Liverpool has lost just twice, with the last loss in a competitive fixture coming against Leeds United on October 30, last year.

Both teams have 28 points and sit 9th and 10th in the league table with Liverpool having a game in hand over Chelsea. The Reds, who were chasing an fine victory last season, were humbled 3-0 by Brighton in their last match while Chelsea finally grabbed a much needed victory against Crystal Palace after losing seven of their last 10 matches.

Chelsea on League games

Chelsea, on the other hand, has won just two of its last 10 league games, though it did beat Crystal Palace 1-0 last time out. Away from home, the Blues are defeated in five league matches.

Chelsea manager Graham Potter, who is already on shaky grounds just four months after replacing Thomas Tuchel, will likely start new signing Mykhaylo Mudryk at Anfield in order to find the missing piece of the puzzle.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s much-hyped loan signing of Joao Felix had a debut to forget against Fulham where he picked up a red card and is out of contention for the Liverpool clash as well as the return clash with Fulham on February 4.

Chelsea will have to be pretty wary of that wall of noise while hoping to crack a consistent winning formula in order to stay in contention for a European spot at the end of the season. Liverpool, meanwhile, will look to give Jurgen Klopp something to smile about in his 1000th game as manager and hope to eventually pip Chelsea for a UCL spot.

Liverpool on League Games

Liverpool, on the other hand, will be looking towards the return of Darwin Nunez which will in turn return new signing Cody Gakpo to his preferred wide role. The World Cup star had looked pretty uninspired in that devastating defeat at the Amex and moving him to a position he is comfortable in might do him a load of good.

Mohamed Salah is always a threat even though he has looked far from his best this season, having scored just once in the Premier League after the World Cup break. But again, Anfield is an entity on its own and the Reds transform into a different monster when they play here.

Jurgen Klopp’s side has returned to winning ways after two losses and one draw, with a narrow 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup third round.

Liverpool are impossible to beat on their home ground, however, having lost just once at Anfield in the last 32 matches. They have 23 goals at home and will be looking to add an victory when Chelsea come to visit on Saturday.

Teams injured players

Last year, Liverpool and Chelsea met four times in all competitions with the Premier League outings drawing stalemates while the Reds edged past the Blues on penalties to win both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

Both teams have injured players this season which is a big factor in their poor form. Liverpool’s Arthur, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk are all out for the clash while Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, Christian Pulisic, Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante, Reece James, Armando Broja and Denis Zakaria are all in the ever-expanding Stamford Bridge injury list.

A few seasons ago, Liver pool were the champions  for the 19th time, winning the title after a wait of 30 years. In 2021, Chelsea were crowned Champions League winners for the second time after defeating Manchester City in the final. But in the current season, both d teams are facing an unacceptable defeat making them in the middle of the points table.