FSG approach set for intriguing test against antithesis of Liverpool owners

In the latest Blood Red column, Ian Doyle looks at the contrasting approaches of Liverpool and Chelsea, who meet at Anfield on Saturday

05:00, 09 May 2026

If ever there are two clubs diametrically opposed in terms of their perceived fanbase, it’s Liverpool and Chelsea.

North versus south. Working class against the wealthy. Red versus blue. The establishment against the revolutionaries. Find a stereotypical trope and tick it off.

Of course, the realty is far more nuanced than those conveniently lazy pigeon holes and, in truth, not all are entirely fair. Few, though, can doubt the way in which the two clubs are being run at the moment is in very stark contrast.

On one hand, Liverpool have positioned themselves under Fenway Sports Group as the model of self-sustainability, spending only what they earn and building a business that aims to succeed off the pitch as well as on it. For some it is a source of frustration, but it at least makes the club stable.

And then there’s Chelsea, passed from a billionaire owner to a consortium that, at least in their early years in charge, thought nothing of splashing out hundreds of millions on squad reinforcements. No Premier League has had a greater net spend since BlueCo assumed charge. Chelsea posted a £262million pre-tax loss in their last accounts, and their fanbase has understandably become restless.

There’s also a very different way of working regards the dugout.

While Liverpool have stumbled through a dismal defence of their Premier League title to place huge pressure under head coach Arne Slot, FSG have, at least until now, shown no signs of losing faith in the man who secured the second championship of their tenure.

Chelsea, meanwhile, are seeing out the season with interim boss Calum McFarlane in situ for a second time this campaign with Liam Rosenior having been sacked after less than four months in charge having replaced Enzo Maresca in early January.

The Stamford Bridge outfit are, to put it mildly, something of a basket case of a club, which was further underlined on Bank Holiday Monday when they slipped to a sixth successive Premier League loss when beaten at home by a borderline reserve Nottingham Forest team. Only an injury-time Joao Pedro goal saved them the ignominy of not having scored in any of those defeats.

It means what should have been a showdown for a top-five berth at Anfield this lunchtime is instead very much of greater immediate importance to Liverpool with Chelsea no longer able to catch Slot’s side with three games still to play.

That said, with Aston Villa through to the Europa League final, there remains a possibility that sixth could be sufficient for a Champions League berth. Ridiculous but true.

Not that Liverpool will be entertaining slipping down the table as they aim to respond to last week’s damaging if hardly terminal defeat at bitter North West rivals Manchester United.

Yet come the final analysis, Chelsea supporters are the ones who could be celebrating a trophy this month with an FA Cup final against Manchester City to come next week.

Indeed, since Liverpool lifted the Premier League crown last May, the Londoners have won the Conference League and then triumphed in the ill-advised FIFA Club World Cup, a bloated competition the hangover from which has perhaps contributed to their poor league showing.

For all their foibles and being very much the antithesis of how FSG envision Liverpool being run, Chelsea keep on picking up silverware or, at the very least, appearing in finals. When it goes wrong, it clearly goes very wrong. But the Londoners have clearly hit on some sort of formula.

Where Liverpool have patience with those in the dugout, Chelsea merely roll the dice, wield the axe and move on to the next. Where Liverpool picture the project, Chelsea struggle to see beyond the present. However, the Londoners are the exception to many rules, and the argument over whose approach is the best will probably never be resolved.

So to today. The decision by FSG to backtrack, at least partially, on their planned ticket price increases should at least change the mood inside Anfield that before and during recent games had been tempered by the protests against the proposals. Supporters have had their say, and the club’s owners have listened.

Now the focus can solely be on helping Slot’s side gain the victory that would move them to the brink of Champions League qualification – and add some weight to the value of patience and long-term planning.