Chelsea vs Liverpool preview: Arne Slot seeks redemption at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea host Liverpool in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

The Blues suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.

They secured their first UCL win in Jose Mourinho’s return to the Bridge on Tuesday.

Enzo Maresca’s side won the corresponding fixture 3-1 last term and will look to replicate the same on Saturday.

Arne Slot’s men tasted their first defeat of the season as Eddie Nketiah’s stoppage-time goal secured all three points for Crystal Palace.

The Champions were also beaten 1-0 by Turkish champions Galatasaray on Tuesday night in their UCL clash.

Match preview

After their 3-1 win in May, Chelsea could enjoy back-to-back league wins over Liverpool for the first time since November 2014 (3 in a row).

Liverpool are winless in their last four Premier League games at Stamford Bridge (D3 L1) and could lose away to Chelsea two seasons running in the league for the first time since losing three on the bounce from 2004/05 to 2006/07.

The Blues have lost four of their last five home Premier League matches against the reigning champions (D1 L4), having gone undefeated at Stamford Bridge between 2002/03 and 2019/20 (W7 D6).

Chelsea have suffered consecutive Premier League defeats for just a third time under Enzo Maresca. The Blues have not lost three league games in a row since losing four on the bounce in April/May 2023 under Frank Lampard.

Alexander Isak has scored in each of his last two Premier League appearances at Stamford Bridge.

Since the start of last season, Chelsea have received more cards (114 yellow, 4 red) than any other Premier League side. Among managers to take charge of 20+ games with one club, only Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea (2.9 per game) has a higher card-per-game ratio than Maresca’s Blues (2.7).

Three of Liverpool’s first six Premier League games this season have seen a 90th-minute winning goal, with the Reds profiting against Newcastle and Burnley. They are the first side ever to have three 90th-minute winners scored across their first six Premier League games of a season.

Team news

Chelsea

Levi Colwill (cruciate ligament), Liam Delap (hamstring), Cole Palmer (groin), Dario Essugo (surgery), Tosin Adarabioyo (calf), Wesley Fofana (concussion), and Andrey Santos (knock) all miss out due to injuries.

Trevor Chalobah was sent off against Brighton last game and is unavailable for the host due to suspension.

Liverpool

Giovanni Leoni (cruciate ligament), Stefan Bajčetić (hamstring), Federico Chiesa (knock), and Alisson Becker (hamstring) all miss the trip to the capital.

Federico Chiesa and Hugo Ekitiké remain doubtful for the visitors.

Predicted line-ups

Chelsea: Robert Sánchez, Malo Gusto, Josh Acheampong, Benoit Badiashile, Marc Cucurella, Reece James, Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, and João Pedro.

Liverpool: Giorgi Mamardashvili, Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak.