On Wednesday evening, the English Premier League clash between current table leader Liverpool and London’s Chelsea will be on the program. At Anfield, two teams will meet in less than a month’s time in the final of the League Cup for the first trophy of the year at Wembley. In the Reds’ last match with the Blues, two goals were scored and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Liverpool fans had a bitter start to the calendar year last week. The now legendary coach Jürgen Klopp surprised everyone by announcing that he will leave the club this summer, after the end of the 2023/2024 season. The German strategist stated that he lacked the energy to continue as the main reason, and specified at the subsequent press conference that he would never coach another English team other than The Reds.
On Sunday, his charges made it clear that they will do everything to make his final season as successful as possible. After progressing to the final of the League Cup via Fulham, Liverpool also advanced to the next stage of the FA Cup, when they clearly dominated the match against second-tier Norwich and deservedly won 5:2.
Youngsters such as James McConnell, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah appeared in the lineup, and with their performance they talked about another chance. Coach Klopp himself singled out the right-back from Northern Ireland in particular, Bradley added an offensive superstructure in the form of two assists in addition to his defensive duties. With many absences of key players combined with the fight on all four fronts, squad width is very important and the academy players are sure to get more opportunities before the end of the season.
After 21 rounds played, Liverpool is in first place in the league table, but several competitors are breathing down their backs. Klopp’s men must pay attention to Manchester City in particular, who are five points behind the Reds, but still have one more game to play.
On the contrary, Chelsea is in a completely different state of mind. Euphoria after the arrival of coach Mauricio Pochettino was replaced by disappointment after a hard clash with reality, as the Blues struggled for a long time and fell to the second half of the league table.
However, since the beginning of the calendar year, the Argentinian coach’s wards are slowly starting to do well. They have lost just one of their last seven competitive matches, advancing past second-tier Middlesbrough to the League Cup final and adding three points to the league table after a 1-0 win over Fulham.
Anyway, last week they played a not very attractive game with Aston Villa in the round of 16 of the FA Cup, which ended in a goalless draw. The Blues can still be quite happy with the final result, as goalkeeper Petrović shone in the goal. And if it weren’t for several of his important interventions, Chelsea would surely have been eliminated from the oldest football club competition in the world. But this way he still has a chance to improve his performance in the rematch.
The ongoing Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup will also affect Wednesday’s match. The home team will be missing Japanese midfielder Endo, and neither Matip nor Tsimikas will be available due to injury. An injured thigh will keep key winger Mohamed Salah out of the match.
Due to national team duties, coach Pochettino will miss striker Jackson, whose Senegal was knocked out of the final tournament, but the young striker will not be available on Wednesday. As well as injuries to Colwill, Cucurella, Fofana, James, Lavia and goalkeeper Sánchez.
Liverpool FC – probable line-up:
Allison – Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, van Dijk, Gomez – Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones – Díaz, Jota, Núňez.
Chelsea FC – Probable Squad:
Petrovic – Disasi, Silva, Badiashile, Chilwell – Caicedo, Fernández – Madueke, Gallagher, Sterling – Palmer.
Tipsport odds: 1.54 – 4.87 – 5.69
Tip EuroFotbal.cz: 1