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da apostaganha： Chelsea will entertain Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the late kick-off on Saturday, with both sides heading into the match seeking to preserve their unbeaten starts to the Premier League campaign.
These are two familiar foes, having contested many iconic bouts over the years in the English top flight. However, by the weekend both sides are likely to be sick of the sight of each other having just met in a midweek EFL Cup clash at Anfield.
The Blues emerged victorious on Liverpool’s home patch on Wednesday, thanks to a dazzling solo strike by Eden Hazard. Following their elimination from the cup competition, Jurgen Klopp’s men will be intent on inflicting their revenge upon Chelsea in Saturday’s encounter.
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The Reds certainly have the firepower to win at the Bridge. In their fabled attacking trio of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool have a strike force capable of unpicking any defence in the land. However, brilliant as this front three may be, they’re not unstoppable. It won’t be easy, but there are measures that Maurizio Sarri can put in place to limit the damage that Firmino, Mane and Salah can inflict upon his side.
The first thing that Chelsea must do is restrict the opposition attacking contingent’s supply lines. Liverpool’s key creative midfielders – particularly James Milner – excel in picking out the runs and movements of the forwards ahead of them. Chelsea’s own forwards and midfielders must therefore be disciplined and vigilant in closing down and harrying the Liverpool suppliers.
Chelsea’s likely midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho possess enough mobility and positional sense to be able to effectively shut down the Liverpool midfielders and close off their passing lanes. This will cause Klopp’s front three to have to drop ever deeper in order to get possession, which limits the threat they can pose in Chelsea’s defensive third.
Forcing the Liverpool attackers to drop deep or take up unfamiliar positions does not entirely eliminate their threat. However, Chelsea can do exactly that by maintaining possession of the ball for themselves. Of course, the Reds boast a remarkably effective pressing technique and work tirelessly as a unit to pressurise their opponents in possession. That being said, Chelsea’s ability to play keep-ball amongst themselves if probably only bettered in the division by Manchester City.
Jorginho is a pass master, as he demonstrated last time out against West Ham when he smashed the Premier League record for passes completed by an individual player in a single match. The Blues as a team recorded 72% of the possession against the Hammers. They must strive to achieve similar levels of dominance against Liverpool, too. The home advantage ought to aid them somewhat in this endeavour.
Keeping the ball and being dogged in cutting off Liverpool’s supply lines is particularly crucial in the opening period of this match. No side has scored more first half goals than Liverpool so far this season and they are also yet to concede in the opening 45 minutes of any league match. Klopp’s side have long been renowned for exploding out of the traps and being utterly relentless in the opening stages of games, and things are clearly no different this season.
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If Chelsea can weather this inevitable early storm – and they’ll need their midfield to strangle the centre of the park and assert their dominance from the off to do so – then they stand an excellent chance of turning the tide of the match in their favour as time goes on.
Finally, Sarri must give specific instructions to each of his full-backs – almost certain to be Marcos Alonso on the left flank and Cesar Azpilicueta taking up the right-hand berth – as to how to cope with Liverpool’s front three. Of course, all of Chelsea’s defenders must turn in magnificent performances to stave off their opponents, but in this case, the roles the wide defenders play will be crucial.
Chelsea’s full-backs will have to be diligent in their marking but constantly alert to the fact that Liverpool’s front three interchange positions frequently. Vigilant awareness of who and what is happening in the spaces around them will be vital to the Chelsea full-backs not being bypassed by the manoeuvrings of Liverpool’s potent trio.
Of course, this means that Alonso and Azpilicueta may have to curb their attacking instincts significantly too. The full-backs being reticent in going forwards will unavoidably reduce the amount of sustained pressure that Chelsea can apply to Liverpool’s own rearguard, in this instance however, that is the necessary price of maintaining a solid defence.
If Chelsea can prove successful in keeping Liverpool’s forwards quiet then, as they proved midweek, they possess the individual brilliance in the likes of Hazard to snatch something at the other end.
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