The Blues and the Reds, set for battle as Liverpool host Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday night. A match that may just set the tone for the expected title race between the two clubs. Who comes out victorious is difficult to predict, however with the return of the World Class Knights, Virgil Van Dijk from injury and Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, fans expect a thriller performance from both sides.
It will be a great encounter between defence and attack, one that I am sure Chelsea fans will be expecting the blues to be on top of. Whilst Jurgen Klopp’s choices for their front three weighs heavily in Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah’s favour, the question is who will lead the front line for Chelsea and why?
With a number of choices at Tuchel's discretion, the Blues are almost certain to deploy Lukaku, spearheading the front three. Having hit the ground running against Arsenal last weekend, fans can expect another solid performance from Chelsea’s new £97 million signing. Teaming up with Lukaku upfront, I’d expect to see Timo Werner and behind them, Mason Mount.
Jurgen Klopp is expected to keep the same backline of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and Virgil Van Dijk, but we may see Andy Robertson make his return to the starting 11 against a team he knows very well. The return of Van Dijk has been longed for by Liverpool fans following the struggles with their center back options from the previous season due to his injury. His involvement in the team draws for a spicy battle against Chelsea forward Lukaku. Will Van Dijk’s immovable defending be enough to contain the formidable presence of Lukaku in front of goal? Thomas Tuchel has a lot of faith in the Belgian as he sings the praises of Lukaku’s physical ability & his rapid speed.
“I think he’s unique; from his physicality, from his ability to play with the back to goal. But for me he’s at his strongest when he’s in the half-open, open position even for transition gain, to use his immense speed.
“So I think with this kind of physical power and at the same time being so fast, and being so hungry, and a true goalscorer in his characteristics, I think it’s also for me a unique and new experience to have this.”
Virgil Van Dijk’s strength lie heavily on his positioning. He is very rarely caught out of position and in addition, his strength allows him to hold off attackers and stray them away from goal. It will be interesting to witness how the strength of both Lukaku and Van Dijk will play out and who will ultimately get the better of the other. As the Liverpool centre back has spent over 9 months recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, how confident will he be to take on the strength and pace of Lukaku? Will he be overly cautious and in return allow Lukaku to have the upper hand?
Whilst Lukaku and Van Dijk go head to head, it’s worth noting the sneaky runs of Timo Werner. The presence of Lukaku is enough to draw the attention of Van Dijk and Joel Matip, leaving Timo Werner in heaps of space to exploit. The question now is, does Jurgen Klopp stick with a high backline, or should he play it safe and keep his right back, Trent Alexander-Arnold in a much deeper role.
It is no secret that Alexander-Arnold provides an extra essence for Liverpool's attack. His balls into the opposition final third has been electric so far this season. In games against Norwich and Burnley, Alexander-Arnold looked set to find his attacking form of old after suffering from injuries last season. Though his attack-minded skill set is sharpening, there are defensive holes for Timo Werner to exploit. Taking a retrospective glance at Liverpool and Chelsea’s last meet up, Timo Werner got the best of Trent Alexander-Arnold on that left-hand side. He was able to sneak behind Liverpool’s right back on a number of occasions leading to shots on target. Luckily nothing came of Timo Werner’s runs, however, the game plan was clear, exploit the reds right side.
With VAR incorporating thicker lines when declaring offsides, Timo may find some sort of luck as he did in their last meet up where his goal was marginally ruled out to offside.
Whilst Werner provides a furtive element to Chelsea’s attack, this match up calls for the bold, energetic essence of Mason Mount. Again looking back to their last meet up, Mason Mount was also able to get the better of Liverpool’s right-sided defence. Cutting in from the right touchline, he was able to dance past Alexander-Arnold and Fabinho to bolt in the winning goal of the match. His boldness to shoot on target at any moment will make it difficult for Liverpool’s defenders to close him down. In such a high energy match, it would be bewildering to not see Mount start. This will mean that Kai Havertz will have to drop to the bench, however, I somehow doubt that he would be an expensive miss for the Blues.
Follow our new Chelsea Fan Brand Writter Anita Abayomi on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
