Liverpool and Chelsea, two teams who had tough seasons by their standards, are gearing up to face each in their Premier League match on Saturday.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool, who won the league title last time, faltered multiple times in this season and are yet to confirm their Champions League qualification. They are coming into the fixture after suffering a 3-2 loss against their arch-rivals Manchester United and are currently fourth in the standings with 58 points from 35 matches.
Chelsea’s form has been at its worst as they failed to win any of their last Premier League matches and have dropped down to ninth spot with 48 points. Only last month they were looking good to finish in the Champions League place but since then have struggled big time.
Here’s everything you need to know about the match.
How to watch
The match will be broadcast on TNT Sports 1 in the UK, NBC in the U.S., JioHotstar in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN’s live coverage here.
Key Details
Kick-off time: Saturday, May 9 at 12:30 p.m. BST (7:30 a.m. ET; 5 p.m. IST; and 9:30 p.m. AEST)
Venue: Anfield, Liverpool
Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Tony Harrington
Injury News
Liverpool
Alisson Becker – muscle injury, DOUBT
Alexander Isak – groin, DOUBT
Giorgi Mamardashvili – knee, OUT
Mohamed Salah – muscle injury, OUT
Hugo Ekitike – achilles injury, OUT.
Conor Bradley – knee injury, OUT.
Giovanni Leoni – knee, OUT.
Stefan Bajcetic – hamstring, OUT.
Wataru Endo – ankle, OUT
Chelsea
Estêvão – hamstring injury, OUT
Jamie Gittens – hamstring injury, OUT
Talking Points
Liverpool should seal UCL with a win
They could’ve been closer to the Champions League qualification had they held on to a draw against Manchester United but they conceded a late goal which left them still needing four more points. A win against a Chelsea side, who have lost their previous six league matches, would more or less complete the job for Slot and bring their tough season to a close.
Qualification for Champions League is the bare minimum for the team who spent a lot in the previous summer recruiting top talents like Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike. Once it’s confirmed, there will be some pressure off Slot who struggled to make the team work this season. Injuries also played a role and a lot was expected from their head coach to find solutions.
One more defeat would put a lot more pressure on Slot and Liverpool, who have to face tricky sides Aston Villa and Brentford in their final two games.
Slot should involve Ngumoha more
It’s understandable that Slot would not start 17-year-old against in-form Manchester United. Instead, Slot waited till the 75th minute to introduce Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool came back well to make it 2-2 in the second half and needed a little bit more energy and push in that crucial period just after equalising. Two minutes after Ngumoha’s entry, Kobbie Mainoo scored and ended the game 3-2.
This season, Ngumoha has been a rare bright spark in Liverpool’s attack. He’s not a starter at this point, but when he was given chances, he has been largely impressive with his pace and dribbling on the wings. There are a few issues for sure — his defensive work needs improvement and maybe the club is protecting him from serious injuries during the development stage. But Slot should look to involve him more during the crucial periods when the team needs an extra attacking push.
Chelsea might not be in Europe next season
First, there were doubts about Chelsea playing in the Champions League next season. Now, they could even miss even Europa and Conference Leagues. Six straight losses have pushed them to ninth spot and after their last defeat to Nottingham Forest, they cannot finish in the top five.
1:22
McFarlane: Chelsea start ‘not acceptable’ in Forest defeat
Calum McFarlane reacts to Chelsea’s “disappointing” 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest to mark their sixth straight Premier League defeat.
The biggest worry has been their lack of goals. In their last six league losses, they have managed to score just one goal and that too came against Nottingham Forest late into the injury time when they were already 3-0 down. Interim head coach Calum McFarlane, who replaced Liam Rosenior, needs to work on this aspect. For him, the Liverpool game is a good opportunity considering the Slot’s side is also struggling with their defence.
Palmer continues to struggle
Chelsea’s scoring worries mirrored that of Cole Palmer. At a time when Chelsea needed one of their most important creative players to be at his best, Palmer is barely able to make any sort of impact. He had a chance to get on the scoresheet against Nottingham Forest but his penalty was saved and he became anonymous as the match went on.
1:06
Hutchison questions Chelsea’s motivation after Forest defeat
Don Hutchison wonders if Chelsea’s players are fully focused after a sixth straight Premier League defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
His dip in form is also not good news for the national team. He was supposed to play a big role in England‘s World Cup hopes this year, however, questions are being raised whether he should be included in Thomas Tuchel’s final squad for the big event. Palmer needs to hit form in the remaining games to help Chelsea beat the losing streak and also be in the reckoning for the World Cup.
Stats
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Liverpool have not lost a Premier League game at Anfield in the month of May since 2015 (1-3 v Crystal Palace), going unbeaten in 17 since then (won 11, drawn six).
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Since a 1-0 loss in March 2021, Liverpool have remained unbeaten against Chelsea at Anfield (won two, drawn two).
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João Pedro is Chelsea’s top scorer in both the league (15) and all competitions (20) this season. He has been directly involved in seven of their last nine Premier League goals, scoring six and assisting one.
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Chelsea have lost each of their last six Premier League games. Only once in their league history have they ever lost seven in a row, doing so in November/December 1952.
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Dominik Szoboszlai is the first Liverpool midfielder to have both 10+ goals and 10+ assists in a campaign since Steven Gerrard in 2013-14 (14 goals, 14 assists).
