Chelsea, who’ve misplaced back-to-back league fixtures, tackle a Liverpool facet overwhelmed of their previous two matches. BBC Sport examines a number of the key themes earlier than Saturday’s recreation.
This match pits the Membership World Cup winners in opposition to the reigning Premier League champions however neither facet are precisely at their finest proper now.
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Defeats by and have left Chelsea susceptible to dropping three top-flight video games in a row for the primary time since Could 2023.
The Blues did not less than defeating Benfica 1-0 on Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge. Nevertheless, the Londoners had Joao Pedro despatched off within the closing phases, their third purple card within the house of 4 video games.
Whereas it was not as expensive as Robert Sanchez’s dismissal at Outdated Trafford or Trevoh Chalobah’s versus Brighton, it has led to elevated scrutiny of Chelsea’s poor disciplinary document beneath Enzo Maresca. They’ve obtained 118 playing cards within the Premier League for the reason that begin of final season, greater than another membership going into the most recent spherical of matches.
[BBC]
Might Reds lose three in a row for first time beneath Slot?
Liverpool’s run of seven successive wins got here to a juddering halt prior to now week, with the Reds overwhelmed at and Galatasaray, and now at risk of dropping three video games in a row for the primary time beneath Arne Slot.
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The Dutchman has pinpointed small margins because the distinction however insists his facet “aren’t up to now” away from the degrees they confirmed final season.
One space the place there may be clear room for enchancment is in relation to defending set-pieces, with 4 of the seven Premier League targets they’ve conceded coming on this style.
At this stage 12 months in the past, the Merseysiders had conceded simply two top-flight targets, neither of which was from a set-piece. Additionally they earned 4 clear sheets of their first six matches, twice as many as within the present marketing campaign.
Regardless of adjustments to personnel leaving Liverpool with a barely extra attacking line-up, they have not confronted extra pictures or pictures on course within the present marketing campaign – these numbers are largely comparable. However they’re conceding way more high-quality probabilities, with the anticipated targets complete by their opponents 2.4 larger than on the similar stage final 12 months.
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Consequently, there was a dramatic drop within the Reds’ save proportion, which has fallen from nearly 90% to 56%. First-choice goalkeeper so a testing Premier League debut awaits for Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will should be given higher safety, notably from set-pieces.
[BBC]