Chelsea vs Liverpool Preview
The Premier League is finally back, and what a Sunday showdown there is at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea will start the campaign against Liverpool this Sunday; after one of the worst seasons in Chelsea’s history, the Blues will be looking to kick this campaign off in the right direction.
On the other hand, Liverpool will also be looking to start the season well after a below-par season for the Merseyside team. They will be looking to return to the prestigious Champions League places and challenge for the title this season.
For a neutral, this will be a highly anticipated match to watch, with both teams spending well in this summer’s transfer window and a familiar face to English football returning to the Premier League.
Mauricio Pochettino will be a manager to watch this season with this very young Chelsea team.
Chelsea Preview:
After one of the worst seasons in Chelsea football club history, Mauricio Pochettino will be looking to bring Chelsea back to the Champions League this season.
The Blues have been looking very strong in pre-season, winning the Premier League Summer Series comfortably and drawing with runners-up of the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund (1-1).
Chelsea have sold ten players this window as of publishing this article, with players such as Kai Havertz and Mason Mount being the significant summer losses for the Blues generating £120m alone for the West London side.
However, the Blues were going to need to spend money this summer on signings, and they have done precisely that with the arrivals of:
Nicolas Jackson (Villareal £32 million)
Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig £57 million)
Robert Sánchez (Brighton and Hove Albion F.C £20 million)
Axel Diasi (AS Monaco £39 million)
Lesley Ugochukwu ( Rennes £23 million)
Angelo Gabriel (Santos FC £13 million)
Diego Moreira (Benfica free)
Ishe Samuels- Smith ( Everton £3.8 million)
With more still expected to arrive at Stamford Bridge, the total spending in this window has reached up to £187.8 million this summer.
Chelsea hopes to make up for such an abysmal season after a very exciting pre-season. Chelsea fans across the world have high hopes for the season ahead.
Liverpool preview:
In some ways, Liverpool experienced some similarities to Chelsea last season with disappointing results and failing to get top four.
Jurgen Klopp will lead Liverpool into the new season for an eighth time.
With rumours during last season of a possible sale of the club, there was optimism that Liverpool might get even more significant backing this summer.
However, this ultimately never came to light as Fenway Sports Group LLC decided against the sale towards the end of last season.
Klopp has demanded signings this summer for the Reds this season, and the Liverpool boss has got his demands answered, with the signings of:
· Alexis Mac Allister (£36 million Brighton and Hove Albion F.C)
· Dominik Szoboszlai (£61 million RB Leipzig)
Although there have only been two signings so far for the red side of Merseyside, they have done their business early.
However, Liverpool still have a chance to sign Romeo Lavia from Southampton.
The Saints are demanding a £50m price tag, which must be met for the highly-rated Belgium midfielder to be sold, a big couple of days and weeks ahead for Liverpool in this summer transfer window.
Liverpool has had an interesting pre-season playing the likes of:
Karlsruher SC (2-4 Win)
SpVgg Greuther Fürth (4-4 Draw)
Leicester City FC (0-4 Win)
Bayern Munich FC (4-3 Loss)
SV Darmstadt (3-1 Win)
The Reds have lost some key players this season: Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, James Milner and club captain Jordan Henderson.
Some argue that this has been the right time for these players to move on, with age being a big part and the decline from previous seasons for Liverpool.
Expectations around Liverpool are high, and Klopp will know what he needs to do to bring success back to Liverpool this season.
Chelsea predicted lineup:
After watching Chelsea this pre-season, it is apparent that Mauricio Pochettino will lineup Chelsea in his favoured 4-2-3-1 shape, and this is who I think will be starting on Sunday:
· GK- Robert Sánchez
· RB- Reece James
· CB- Thiago Silva
· CB- Levi Colwill
· LB- Ben Chilwell
· CM- Enzo Fernández
· CM- Conor Gallagher
· AM- Carney Chukwuemeka
· LM- Mykhailo Mudryk
· RM- Raheem Sterling
· ST- Nicolas Jackson
It may come as a shock, but with rumours circulating that former Blues manager Thomas Tuchel is looking for another goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga is the favourite to join the German champions.
So that is why I believe Robert Sánchez will start this Sunday over his Spanish colleague.
The defence was not a simple choice as Pochettino has been experimenting a lot with the back four, but with Reece James being back fully fit, it is a no-brainer that he gets to start new arrival Malo Gusto who had an awe-inspiring pre-season.
While the two centre-backs, on the other hand, is the perfect balance of youth and experience, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill next to one another is a pairing which will be very hard to break down for any opposition.
In the left-back position, Ben Chilwell starts as he seems to be favoured by the Chelsea manager ahead of Ian Maasten and Marc Cucurella.
After joining in January, Enzo Fernández has been one of the first names in team sheets, and he will most likely be joined by Conor Gallagher, who had an excellent pre-season.
Meanwhile, a player who did not feature as much last season, Carney Chukwuemeka, has earned himself a spot in the starting eleven, featuring heavily in pre-season. Poch looks impressed by the 19-year-old English midfielder.
Although they have a poor pre-season, Raheem Sterling will start for Chelsea as Noni Madueke is still recovering from a slight injury he sustained during the under-21s Euros.
Mykhailo Mudryk, on the other hand, had an exciting pre-season getting his name on the scoresheet after a beautiful volley against Brighton. Mudryk will have many people watching him this season after failing to hit the ground running when he joined in January.
With Chelsea struggling to score goals last season, Chelsea might have finally found their man to get some goals.
Nicolas Jackson has looked incredible in pre-season. He is the perfect striker for this Chelsea team, whether scoring goals or linking up with teammates.
The Caicedo drama:
Liverpool and Chelsea have been battling hard over the past few days for the highly-rated midfielder of Moises Caicedo.
In the early hours of Friday morning, Liverpool submitted a British record transfer fee for Moises Caicedo, where the bid reached a staggering £111 million.
On the same day, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp announced in his press conference that they have agreed a fee with Brighton for the player.
It looked certain that Liverpool would swoop in and steal the player from Chelsea, but Caicedo rejected Liverpool in the most unexpected twist.
Never has this been seen in England when a player rejected a club for a British record fee.
The crucial part of this whole saga was Chelsea doing the groundwork for the player early, it has given them every chance to sign the player, which is why he rejected Liverpool.
So what is happening as I am publishing this article?
Caicedo is in London waiting for all documents to be signed and sealed, then he will do his medical, and if done in time, he will be presented to the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge.
The fee will be a British transfer record for Chelsea, amounting to over Liverpool’s £111m
Roundup:
You can’t judge teams off pre-season, especially in the Premier League, but I am confident this will be a close and cagey counter between two groups who want to challenge for the title.
All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge, expect a fierce encounter with players and managers as this will be more than just an opening Premier League match.
My Prediction: 2-1 Chelsea.
After the Pre-season campaign and the summer reinforcements, Chelsea will just edge Liverpool.
Let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading.
