Emerging to their first guard of honour of the season, newly-crowned Premier League champions Liverpool begin their title procession in Sunday’s main event away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The Reds officially moved back to the top of the English game alongside Manchester United by pummelling Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 last weekend, while the Blues scored one fewer in Thursday’s Conference League battering of Djurgardens IF.
Match preview
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It was always a case of when rather than if Liverpool would reclaim their place at the top of the English game, even when former flame Dominic Solanke momentarily silenced the Kop by heading Tottenham into a shock lead against his erstwhile employers last weekend.
However, as they have done consistently since the perpetually serene Arne Slot took the reins, Liverpool thrived in the face of adversity, responding with five unanswered goals when they only needed the one to take home the crown with four matches to spare.
From matching Man United’s record of 20 English top-flight titles, Slot becoming just the fifth manager to win the Premier League in their first season – and also the first Dutchman to do so – and equalling a scoring feat that had stood for 129 years, Sunday’s slaughter of Spurs was a day for special celebrations and special statistics galore.
The Anfield faithful will soon witness their first-ever Premier League title lift in person, five years after Jurgen Klopp‘s COVID team hoisted the crown aloft in a deserted stadium, but Slot’s crop still have a couple of goals to fulfil, most notably taking eight more points to breach the 90 barrier.
May tends to be very merry indeed for the new champions, who have remarkably avoided defeat in each of their last 20 Premier League games played in the final month of the season, although there are no prizes for guessing who their last such defeat came against.
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Seven years on from overcoming Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in May 2018, Chelsea now face their seventh game against the side that have already been confirmed as Premier League champions, although just one of their previous six such contests has ended in victory.
That sole success came against Manchester United in the dying embers of the 2012-13 campaign, but Enzo Maresca‘s men have some wind in their sails amid a three-game winning run across all tournaments, boosting their end-of-season aspirations both domestically and continentally.
Barring a catastrophe at home, the Blues will compete in the Conference League final after thrashing Swedish upstarts Djurgardens 4-1 in Thursday’s semi-final first leg, which came after back-to-back Premier League triumphs over Fulham and Everton.
Thanks also to Brentford’s win over Nottingham Forest on Thursday, the fifth-placed hosts have Champions League qualification in their own hands, and not since August’s defeat at the hands of Manchester City have Chelsea failed to score in a home game in any competition.
Maresca’s men have since registered in 24 straight matches at Stamford Bridge, although a Nicolas Jackson strike at Anfield in October was inconsequential in a 2-1 defeat, one that extended Chelsea’s winless run against Liverpool into the double figures.
Team News
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The reigning champions will either be working with an identical or strengthened squad for the trip to Stamford Bridge, as Slot confirmed on Friday that Conor Bradley is set to train with the team and could return to the fold here.
Joe Gomez‘s hamstring problem will keep him out for another couple of weeks, but the long-serving Englishman could be Liverpool’s sole absentee on Sunday, where Slot has confirmed that he will tinker with first place now assured.
However, there should be no respite for Mohamed Salah as he chases a veteran’s record; after bagging top-flight goal number 28 for the season against Spurs, the Egyptian needs one more strike to equal the all-time best for an over-30 player in a Premier League campaign, set by Didier Drogba in 2009-10.
Chelsea are not so fortunate on the injury front, and Maresca has confirmed that both Robert Sanchez and Christopher Nkunku need once-overs after missing Thursday’s win due to knocks, but the former has a better chance of being passed fit.
None of Wesley Fofana (hamstring), Omari Kellyman (thigh), Marc Guiu (thigh), Aaron Anselmino (unspecified) or Mykhaylo Mudryk (suspended) will be involved again just yet, but Maresca should ring a similar amount of changes to Slot on Sunday.
Scorer of a brace off the bench against Djurgardens, Jackson has a taste for goals right now after also netting the winner against Everton last weekend, his first-ever Premier League goal from outside the box.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Elliott, Gakpo; Diaz
We say: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
It is inevitable that Liverpool’s foot will come off the gas – if just ever so slightly – with the Reds in party mode, and Slot’s confirmation of rotations spells optimism for Chelsea’s chances of a shock.
The Blues have had no problems finding the back of the net at Stamford Bridge all season long, and Maresca’s men can realistically expect to hold the champions to a score draw in Sunday’s blockbuster.
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