This is by far the biggest game of the Premier League season so far! It’s Chelsea against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. A game that is between two teams who are expected to be in a title race come ending stages of the season and a game between two rivals that absolutely HATE each other. Chelsea ended Liverpool’s perfect season by knocking them out of the Carabao Cup just this Wednesday at Anfield, but this game is the one that matters the most and Liverpool will be eager for revenge! Can Chelsea make it 2 wins in 3 days over Liverpool or will Liverpool get their revenge and maintain their perfect league start?
Key Facts
Chelsea have won every game at Stamford Bridge. Played 3 Won 3 scored 9 and beat one of the big 6 already in Arsenal 3-2.
Chelsea have made a very strong start to the season winning 5 of 6 league games, 1 draw and a win at Anfield in the cup recently. Sarri has revitalised their play style.
Eden Hazard has scored or assisted in every game bar one at West Ham. He has 6 goals 2 assists in all competitions and recently punished Liverpool in the cup on Wednesday scoring an unbelievable winner.
Defensively, Chelsea have really stepped it up recently. Only 5 goals conceded in 8 games and they’ve kept 4 clean sheets in all competitions this season.
Chelsea have only lost 2 of their last 15 competitive matches against Liverpool. 6W 7D.
Chelsea and Liverpool are tied for 2nd highest scoring clubs in the league with 14 goals each.
Giroud has scored 5 goals in his 6 previous starts against Liverpool including scoring the only goal in this fixture last season in Chelsea’s 1-0 win.
Liverpool are the only Premier League club with 6 wins out of 6 in the league.
Liverpool have conceded the least goals in the league with 2 and have kept 4 clean sheets this season already in the Prem. However they’ve only kept 1 clean sheet in 3 away games.
In the past 10 years, Liverpool have actually had a positive record at Stamford Bridge. In the 12 meetings they won 6, drew 3 and lost 3 to Chelsea in their home in all competitions. Just like Chelsea have a better record at Anfield, Liverpool have a better record at Stamford Bridge. Away team normally prevails in this rivalry in recent memory.
Sadio Mane is Liverpool’s current top scorer in the league with 4. Salah has 3 and Firmino has 2.
Liverpool have only won 1 of their last 8 matches away from home against a big 6 team. That was against Tottenham this season winning 1-2.
Team News
Chelsea: Antonio Rudiger, Pedro and Loftus-Cheek are all in doubt to start this weekend thus giving Willian and Gary Cahill potential starts this weekend. Gary Cahill has put in a good shift this midweek and is expected to slot in alongside Luiz if Rudiger can’t go, another option that Chelsea have is Andreas Christensen at CB who is fit to go aswell. Although all of them are back in training, they still need to get fit to start in such a big game. Elsewhere, everyone is ready to go. The likes of Kepa, Alonso, Jorginho, Hazard, Giroud etc are all expected to start against Liverpool after either coming off the bench or being rested during the midweek.
Liverpool: Liverpool have injury news of their own. Alexander-Arnold and Wijnaldum are apparently both ready to start after being ill and injured meanwhile van Dijk could be out for this match after picking up an injury last week which could end up being a crucial loss for Liverpool given his dominant performances defensively. Just like at Chelsea, the main men are all going start for Liverpool, the likes of Salah, Firmino, Allisson, Milner are all expected to feature from the start. If van Dijk is out then either Lovren or Matip will slot in for him alongside the in form Joe Gomez who is definitely going to start given his performances.
Betting Tips and Predictions
Many people will be expecting goals, but the over 2.5 odds are just 1.62 and it’d be too risky to go for 3.5 because this is one of those games where we could see cautiousness. In recent history, these clubs have not had that many high scoring games with most ending 1-0 or 1-1 so we’re going to avoid an over simply because there is a lot on the line in this game. With Liverpool’s main backline back and Chelsea improving defensively, both attacks could be quietened down. In this game we could see a ton of cards shown, because how big the game is and the intensity of it, there is definitely expected to be some rash challenges made with the likes of Salah, Hazard, Firmino, Willian being tough to deal with. In this match we’re looking at a draw. Yes, Liverpool have the better team, but at Stamford Bridge led by Eden Hazard, Chelsea do not look like losing. This game shapes up to be a 1-1 draw. Don’t back any overs. A draw at 3.50 is a good value bet, Liverpool should be happy with a point and it’s tough to expect Chelsea to beat this Liverpool twice in 3 days. Hazard to score anytime at 2.75 is a bet worth the look given his unbelievable form right now and the fact that no one else at Chelsea seem to be scoring right now.
Match Odds (TonyBet)
Chelsea Win – 2.80
Draw – 3.50
Liverpool Win – 2.55
KICK OFF – 29th September 2018 – 5:30pm UK Time
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