- Date and time: Wednesday, January 31, 20:15 GMT
- Location: Anfield, Liverpool, England
- Teams : Liverpool vs Chelsea
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Liverpool look to power on at the top while Chelsea aim to kickstart charge up the table
Liverpool go into this round of fixtures five points clear at the top of the Premier League. Jurgen Klopp’s side are somewhat depleted through injuries and international call ups.
Chelsea, once again have been dogged by inconsistency and their expensively assembled squad are yet to convince. They will be aiming to climb the table and push for the European places in the second half of the season. A trip to Anfield will be a massive test for Maurricio Pochettino’s side.
After the events of last week this match throws together the EFL Cup finalists, so it could provide one of the two teams with a psychological edge ahead of the Wembley showpiece.
Liverpool
Liverpool have been extremely strong this season with 8 wins and 2 draws from 10 matches played. They have shown a great deal of resilience this season as well as quality this season and are still fighting on four fronts. A 1-1 draw at Fulham was enough to send them to the EFL Cup final with a 3-2 aggreagate win. They then progressed to the FA Cup fifth round with a convincing victory over Norwich City. They have usually managed to find a way to get results this season, even in recent weeks when injuries, the AFCON and the Asian Cup have left them stretched. They will be aiming for three points against Chelsea.
Egypt might have exited the AFCON, however, LIverpool will still be without Mohamed Salah due to a muscle injury sustained during the tournament. Joel Matip (knee), Kostas Tsimikas (collarbone), Thiago Alcantara (hip) and Stefan Bajcetic (calf) are all on the injured list too. Wataru Endo is still on international duty with Japan at the Asian Cup.
Alexis Mac Allister missed the FA Cup win over Norwich due to a minor injury, but the midfielder shoud be fit to return against Chelsea. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai all made substitute appearances against the Canaries after recovering from injury, and all three in contention for Wednesday.
Luis Diaz is likely to come back into the side after coming off the bench against Norwich, with Cody Gakpo the most likely to miss out due to the form of Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez.
Chelsea
LIke last season Chelsea have flattered to deceive. They have produced a number of good performances but have failed to build upon them. Pochettino has not been helped with the injury situation at Stamford Bridge and there is hope that the second half of the season will finally see them start to punch their weight. They secured a place at Wembley in the EFL Cup final with a morale boosting 6-1 win over Championship side Middlesbrough to go through 6-2 on aggregate before being held to a goalless fraw by high flying Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
Previous meetings
13.08.23 Chelsea – Liverpool 1-1
04.04.23 Chelsea – Liverpool 0-0
21.01.23 Liverpool – Chelsea 0-0
14.05.22 Chelsea – Liverpool 0-0 (FA Cup)
27.02.22 Chelsea – Liverpool 0-0
Prediction
LIverpool have been excellent at home this season and a visit to Anfield is a daunting task for any team, Chelsea included. Chelsea have the talent to go anywhere and get a result, however, equally, there have been a number of matches where they have underachieved. I think that Liverpool will have too much for them. Home win.
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