Liverpool vs Chelsea
Uefa Super Cup
Venue: Vodafone Arena, Istanbul
Date: Wednesday, 14 August, 2019
Kick-off time: 8pm BST
Champions League holders Liverpool and Europa League winners Chelsea face off in Istanbul tonight as the Uefa Super Cup is an all-English affair for the first time.
Both teams had contrasting starts to the Premier League season as the Reds put four past Norwich at Anfield before Chelsea had four put past them by Manchester United.
Jurgen Klopp has already told his squad to "stay greedy" with early silverware, and bragging rights up for grabs, while Frank Lampard will be hoping to avoid another humbling.
Liverpool vs Chelsea team news
Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he is likely to make changes to his line-uptonight.
The opportunity for the Reds to secure some early European silverware comes five days after they beat Norwich 4-1 in their opening game of the new Premier League season.
But it is the prospect of that league campaign continuing at Southampton 72 hours on from Wednesday’s game in Istanbul that has Klopp minded to rotate his squad.
He told the club’s official website: “It was Friday to Wednesday so that should be OK but after that we need to think about the Southampton game.
“We come back on Thursday and two days later we play Southampton, so we cannot ignore that game as well.
Naby Keita appears unlikely to feature among those changes after limping out of training at Vodafone Park on Tuesday evening with what appears to be a muscle complaint.
But Sadio Mane should be ready to start in the Turkish capital having missed out on a starting place for the opening league game of the season.
Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud were second-half substitutes against Manchester United, while Willian travelled with the squad after a prolonged rest following his involvement in the summer's Copa America with Brazil. None of those three are expected to start, however
Kurt Zouma, who had a rough time in central defence, is expected to keep his place despite Antonio Rudiger's return, with the German international lacking match fitness.
Liverpool XI: Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Mane, Firmino.
Chelsea XI: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, Emerson; Kovacic, Jorginho; Pedro, Mount, Barkley; Abraham.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Chelsea
Liverpool could not have wished for an easier run out to kick off the new Premier League season as Norwich City looked in disarray at Anfield on Friday night in a big 4-1 home win.
Two days later and Chelsea were on the wrong end of four goals as Manchester United took full advantage of dire defending in 4-0 win at Old Trafford.
Frank Lampard has pointed to his team twice hitting the woodwork but those defensive problems will not be solved in three days so we could see another big defeat for the Blues in Istanbul.
Tickets
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Betting tips via Betfair | UK users only | Subject to change
Match odds
- Liverpool to win: 7/10
- Chelsea to win: 4/1
- Draw after 90 mins: 31/10
First goal scorer
- Mohamed Salah: 7/2
- Roberto Firmino: 4/1
- Sadio Mane: 4/1
- Tammy Abraham: 15/2
- Olivier Giroud: 17/2
- Michy Batshuayi: 17/2
TV channel and live stream information
The match will be televised live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Ultimate, with coverage starting from 7pm ;BST.
BT Sport subscribers will be able to stream the match online via the video player and the BT Sport app.
You can also follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
