Chelsea were able to return to winning ways in the Premier League on Sunday, securing a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge. After four games without a win, including two defeats to Manchester City, a goal from Kai Havertz in the second half settled the contest on a day that was dedicated to the late Gianluca Vialli.
The day also saw new arrival Mykhailo Mudryk unveiled at half-time after the Blues successfully completed a major transfer hijack on London rivals Arsenal signing Mudryk for £88million, a £62million initial fee with an additional £26million available in add-ons. The 22-year-old watched on from the stands Graham Potter's men bounced back from the mid-week defeat to Fulham.
A late goal from ex-Tottenham striker Carlos Vinicius, compounded by the dismissal of debutant Joao Felix, saw Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Paul Winstanley move quickly to make Mudryk the Blues' fifth January arrival.
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£162.7million in full fees has been spent by Chelsea thus far in January showcasing the rebuild taking place at Stamford Bridge, with a relentless injury crisis also prompting decisive action in the transfer window. Ten first-team players are currently out through injury, with Denis Zakaria the latest to fall victim, however Wesley Fofana appears to be nearing a return.
Reece James, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Ben Chilwell could all also be available next month and in his BBC Sport column, former Premier League striker Alan Shearer believes the players returning from injury will help Chelsea improve upon the recent string of bad results.
"I suspect Chelsea will improve after their poor spell in the past few weeks, as their players come back from injury," Shearer said.
On paper, Chelsea's next task is a tough one as they travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool. However, Jurgen Klopp's men are also struggling for consistent form losing their last two Premier League games to Brentford and Brighton, conceding six goals in the process.
"Liverpool look miles off it at the moment," Shearer wrote. "Jurgen Klopp’s side are terrible at the back, with no intensity when they press.
"They look a shadow of the side that we are used to seeing at the top end of the table, and I don’t see things getting better any time soon – it is going to be a long, hard season for them."
With Chelsea potentially buoyed by the arrival of Mudryk, who can make his debut for the club against Liverpool, Shearer's claim of where the Reds currently are along with their own injury crisis, prove Saturday could be the best time for Potter to do battle with Klopp.
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