Liverpool v CHELSEA: Preview
Date: Saturday 9th
May 2026
Venue: Anfield
Kick-off: 12:30 BST
Previewing Chelsea games these days feels
a bit like reviewing the Titanic’s menu after it hit the iceberg. What am I
supposed to say? We’ve turned losing into an art form—if squandering points
were an Olympic discipline, we’d be taking home gold this season.
Every game feels like rock bottom—until the next one, when we bring
a shovel. The Forest game was so bad, it was painful to watch. God only knows
what’s happening in the players’ heads. Maybe they’re planning their summer
holidays already, but with performances like this, none of them look like the
World Cup should be in their travel plans. We did finally score—cheers, Joao
Pedro—but by then, the stadium was emptier than our trophy cabinet this season.
Liverpool, on the other hand, nearly snatched a point against
United—if only VAR could spot a handball without requiring a post-match investigation.
They’re absolutely desperate for points as their Champions League spot awaits,
but they’ve bagged 10 out of the last 12 points available at Anfield, so they’ll
be confident enough of getting them. Yes, we’ve beaten them twice recently, but
let’s not get carried away—it was at Stamford Bridge, and Anfield is hardly a
welcoming holiday destination for us.
We’re starting the day in 9th place— which is still
higher than my optimism levels. I predicted we’d end up 10thbut
frankly, that was just a moment of wild fantasy. Europe? Only if we’re booking
flights for sightseeing, because football’s not taking us there.
Let’s not kid ourselves—we’re not even pretending to play for pride
anymore.
MANAGER’S VIEWS
Going
into today’s game, Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, says “Usually goes hand in
hand, good performance leads to results. The first and main aim is to qualify
for the Champions League and we have shown this season we need a good
performance to get results. The opposite has happened where we’ve had good
performances and not a good result, and we’ve not often had a bad performance
and a good result. We usually need a good performance to win a game.
If
the information is correct, a few of their players that they’ve been really
missing have come back. So, it will probably be a stronger team than last week
– if the players that they say are back are back. That will be massive for
them, as it is for any team. If you miss out on your best players, that’s never
helpful to get results. But it’s always a difficult game for both teams because
there’s so much quality on both ends. So, it doesn’t matter that much at the
moment, I think, how much you lost or how much you won. It’s a game between a
lot of very good individual players and let’s hope we have a very good team
performance as well because that usually helps individuals in being even
better.”
Calum
McFarlane, meanwhile, says “We’ve spoken about what we have to improve from
the previous game (against Nottingham Forest) and looked ahead to the next
game. Liverpool are a really good side with a lot of threats that we have to be
aware of. We also have a lot of good players, and we’re just focusing on
ourselves at the moment and making sure that our performance levels are at a
higher level than what they have been.
We’re
going to have to make up for some of the players we’re missing in different
ways, and in the way that we shape the team up, but I don’t want to go into too
much detail on that right now. What I do know is that we’ve still got a lot of
good players that can impact games.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Liverpool, Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Conor
Bradley, Giovanni Leoni (both knee) and Wataru Endo (ankle) are absent, whilst
the game comes too soon for Alisson Becker (unspecified) and Mohamed Salah
(hamstring). Alexander Isak (groin) could return along with Giorgi
Mamardashvili (knee).
For Chelsea, Jamie Gittens (thigh), Jesse
Derry (head), Robert Sanchez (head), Estevao Willian (hamstring) are all
injured. Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho are also unlikely to be back from
their knocks. Mykhaylo Mudryk continues to serve a 4-year ban pending appeal.
TEAMS
LIVERPOOL (Possible line-up): Woodman; Jones, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Frimpong, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
CHELSEA (Possible line-up): Jorgensen; James, Colwill, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo, Lavia; Fernandez; Pedro, Delap
LAST SEASON
Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea (20th
October 2024)
CURRENT FORM (PL)
LIVERPOOL: DLWWWL
CHELSEA: LLLLLLL
OTHER STUFF
- Liverpool
have lost the last 2 games against Chelsea but both were at Stamford Bridge - Chelsea
have won just one of their last 10 away to Liverpool in the league - Liverpool
have lost 11 games this season in the Premier League - Chelsea
have lost their last 6 games in the Premier League - Liverpool
have conceded 2 or more goals in 16 games this season - Chelsea
have conceded in their last 13 Premier League games
PREDICTION
Sportsmole: Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea
