Chelsea Fan View: Salah will have a point to prove but there is a system to beat Liverpool

Liverpool v Chelsea seems a peculiar football rivalry in some respects. While the two sides challenged each other for honours in the mid 1960s, Liverpool were THE team of the 80s and more than a match for a Blues side re-emerging from a couple of spells in the second division. At that time, the gap between them was as huge as the 178 miles that separates the two clubs.

While the more traditional local tribal rivalry may be absent, there is no doubt that Chelsea’s resurgence under Roman Abramovich; winning the Premier League, dare I say it, five times and perhaps usurping Liverpool who have yet to win it, may have lit the blue touch paper. Factor in the bitterness between Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez and a few controversial matches and a rivalry there most certainly is.

The two sides do battle again this Saturday, at Anfield, having had differing experiences in midweek in the Champions League. How much this will affect proceedings on Saturday is a good question.

Chelsea’s confidence and winning run was boosted by a comfortable 4-0 defeat of Qarabag. In the process they managed to rest key players and those who did play hardly had to break sweat. Hopefully this will mitigate Antonio Conte’s concern about the arduous journey to and from Azerbaijan, leaving little preparation time for the match against Liverpool.

Liverpool throwing away a 3-0 lead against Sevilla may serve as a worrying reminder of their Achilles heel; a porous defence. They may have a dangerous front line with pace to burn, but can they keep the back door shut?

In many respects this may be the key to the game. The team who, on the day, can contain the other may well be the victors.

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In recent weeks, Chelsea seem to have ironed out the kinks in their defence that were so obvious in the early part of the season. They have now kept a clean sheet in their last three games since shipping three goals away to Roma. Roma attacked Chelsea with intent and pace, something that Liverpool are more than capable of and that be more than a concern to Chelsea supporters.

It may seem strange to Chelsea supporters that Liverpool’s main threat is Mo Salah, who has scored 15 goals this season. He seems a very different player to the one that flattered to deceive in his two year spell at Chelsea. Worryingly he may have a point to prove against Chelsea on Saturday.

Hopefully Chelsea can contain him and the equally pacy Sadio Mane while also seeing Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard nurture their blossoming partnership. They were superb against West Brom last weekend and appear to be developing a telepathic relationship if Morata’s flick to set up Hazard’s first goal last weekend is anything to go by.

Whether Antonio Conte sticks with the 3-5-2 that was so successful against Man United and West Brom or tries to accommodate Willian who put in a man of the match display against Qarabag will be an interesting conundrum.

I would be tempted to start the eleven that started against the Baggies. Playing five in the midfield not only gets the best out of Cesc Fabregas but also allows Hazard to cause more damage up front together with Morata.

Liverpool has their own issues in midfield where Jurgen Klopp appears to be wedded to a 4-3-3 and seems unsure whether to keep Philippe Coutinho in the engine room or to play Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum. With Coutinho’s recent goal scoring record against Chelsea, one hopes that he is swamped in midfield and finds little opportunity to inflict damage further upfield.

Liverpool has suffered two big defeats this season against Man City (5-0) and Tottenham (4-1) both of whom play 3-4-3 or a variant of this system. Although both defeats were away from home, there is a suspicion that they are vulnerable to good teams playing this system.

Chelsea has a very good record at Anfield in recent seasons. Their last defeat came in May 2012 (4-1), although falling just three days after beating Liverpool in the FA Cup final and shortly before winning the Champions’ League there were perhaps mitigating circumstances.

Since then, Chelsea has won four times and drawn twice with a 1-1 result last season.

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Although everything points to a goal-fest, there is a lot riding on this fixture which means it will probably be a tight game with the odd goal determining the outcome.

Liverpool will be keen to pick up points against their perceived rivals for the top four in the Premier League and will be mindful that they have already lost to Man City and Tottenham, whilst beating Arsenal.

For Chelsea it is imperative that they keep their fledgling winning run going. It seems that with each win Chelsea’s confidence builds, much as it did last season. Beating Liverpool on Saturday will make it five consecutive Premier League wins and will solidify their belief that a title challenge is not beyond them.

As far as I am concerned, I’d settle for a 1-0 win with the winner coming off the rear end of a Chelsea player in the last minute. The satisfaction of beating Liverpool, making a dent in their title aspirations and watching the meltdown of their supporters is almost as great as the warm glow of extending our winning run.

David Chidgey @StamfordChidge

David Chidgey presents the award winning Chelsea FanCast podcast which can be heard live every Monday at 19.00 at mixlr.com/chelsea-fancast/ or downloaded from Acast, ITunes, Soundcloud or chelseafancast.com @ChelseaFanCast