Premier League giants Chelsea will be looking to pick up their first home victory of the new season when they welcome reigning champions Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening. The Blues are coming into this fixture on the back of a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Brighton and Hove Albion, where they were perhaps fortunate with the end result. Despite finishing the night with all three points, the London club weren’t at their expected best that evening.
It took a Jorginho penalty to give them the lead in the first half before a bullet strike by Reece James added a second. Kurt Zouma scored the third from a set-piece to ease the pressure, but by no means was it a walk in the park for Chelsea. Liverpool didn’t have it easy on the opening weekend either, as they were forced to come back from behind in three separate occasions by newly-promoted Leeds United. Despite this, the 5-3 win towards the end of last season will be running through the heads of all the players involved in the fixture.
Team News
Frank Lampard’s first-team roster is still far from complete because as many as eight players are unlikely to be available. Hakim Ziyech picked up a slight knock in pre-season, meaning that he is set to miss out. This match could also come too early for both Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva. Billy Gilmour is still dealing with his long-term knock, while Christian Pulisic suffered a slight setback as well. With Timo Werner likely to be fit though, Lampard will have a strong enough team to choose from this fixture.
Here Is The Predicted 4-3-3 Chelsea Lineup Vs Liverpool:
Predicted 4-3-3 Chelsea Lineup Vs Liverpool
Formation: 4-3-3
Defence
Kepa Arrizabalaga was given the nod by Lampard for Chelsea’s opening game against Brighton, and it’s safe to say that he failed to live up to the lofty expectations. Despite this, the Spaniard is likely to keep his place in between the sticks against the Reds. In front of him, Lampard could be tempted to stick with the defensive pairing that did a decent job against the Seagulls. Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma are expected to start in the centre-half roles, while Reece James could continue on the right. The only change expected is that of Cesar Azpilicueta replacing Marcos Alonso over on the left side.
Midfield
The return of Mateo Kovacic from his suspension is sure to come as a boost to Lampard’s hopes of winning this match. Italian pass-master Jorginho is expected to drop down to the bench to make way for the Croatian. N’Golo Kante’s presence as the midfield anchor simply cannot be underplayed, as his energy and dynamism were on full display last Monday night. The biggest surprise of Frank Lampard’s eleven could be the inclusion of English midfielder Ross Barkley, who gave a good impression of himself after coming on last week.
Attack
Playing against the champions was never going to be an easy task, but taking into consideration the lack of chemistry between this new-look group of Chelsea players, the challenge is going to be an even harder one. Despite this, expect Lampard to stick to his guns and give two of their most exciting summer signings starts in this tie. German speedster Timo Werner is expected to lead the line with Kai Havertz operating in the right flank. Despite the availability of Hudson-Odoi, Lampard could opt for the more conservative pick of Mason Mount playing in the wide role.
