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Here come the teams. Chelsea in their royal blue. Liverpool in their scarlet. Cucurella’s mascot is almost taller than him. The Spaniard is playing as one of three centre-backs tonight.
“Third manager in a season and Cucurella is still in the starting lineup,” emails Morten Skytte. “He has been guilty of so many mistakes leading to goals since joining Chelsea. Probably the worst defender in the history of Chelsea.”
I think Winston Bogarde would have something to say about that.
Another email, from Kári Tulinius.
“I think the best indicator of how far this fixture has fallen this season, is that literally every other match today has more riding on it than this one. Leicester, Bournemouth, Leeds and Forest are struggling against relegation, while Brighton and Villa are fighting to get into Europe. I suppose Liverpool are part of the latter struggle, but all Chelsea have got is the opportunity to get past the symbolic 40 points.”
Three other Premier League fixtures are happening tonight. All are 7.45pm BST kick-offs so we’re about six minutes in. Scores are all goalless.
Bournemouth 0-0 Brighton
Leeds 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Leicester 0-0 Aston Villa
Have to say, I don’t fancy Liverpool tonight. I understand the need for changes after the manner of the defeat at City, but they look like a team that is set up to contain Chelsea tonight, rather than attack. They will most likely look to counter-attack, with Chelsea’s wing backs, Ben Chilwell and Reece James, on the offensive.
We hear from both ‘managers’:
Bruno Saltor: “There’s a lot of personality in that team, a lot of experience, and that’s going to help Chelsea. We expected some Liverpool changes but maybe not that many. Kanté is important, we are so happy to put him on the pitch.
Jürgen Klopp: “Some get a rest, some need a rest. Some others get opportunities. It’s clear we need fresh legs. I really hope we can show a reaction. We have to show that we care. We have a lot of quality to come on [from the bench].”
An email, from Niall Mullen.
“Ooh Matip in for Van Dijk, and no Trent or Robertson. It will be fun to see us lose in a different way.”
Got five minutes to kill? You could do a lot worse than than read David Squires’s latest cartoon.
Sky’s Geoff Shreeves is at his effervescent best, asking Jordan Henderson to “what extent this game is going to be a game of mentality?”
Daniel Sturridge, who scored a wondergoal for Liverpool at the Bridge in 2018, refers to it as ‘Hentality’.
Henderson gives both short shrift, and jogs back to the dressing room.
Big news for Chelsea is that Kanté makes his first Premier League start since August. It wasn’t that long ago that he was the finest midfielder in this league. A huge plus for the Blues. And look at the depth on that bench. The question is: has Bruno Saltor picked the right XI?
Liverpool make six changes. Six! The previously undroppable Robertson, Alexander-Arnold and Salah are on the bench, while Van Dijk doesn’t make the squad – the Dutchman is ill. It’s just the third time the back four of Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas has played together.
The teams are in
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella, James, Fernandez, Kante, Chilwell, Havertz, Kovacic, Joao Felix. Subs: Badiashile, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Mudryk, Mendy, Sterling, Mount, Gallagher, Madueke.
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas, Jones, Fabinho, Henderson, Jota, Firmino, Nunez. Subs: Milner, Salah, Gakpo, Robertson, Carvalho, Arthur, Phillips, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Preamble
Back in the relative hey-day of both these clubs, this fixture was once a mid-week staple in the Champions League. Alex’s thunderbastard of a free-kick, Luis García’s ghost goal, Frank Lampard’s tears. Yep, those encounters had just about everything, as the Blues and the Reds played out some timeless battles on their own journeys to European glory.
Things are a little different now. Chelsea are simultaneously without a manager, in the Champions League quarter-finals and undergoing something of an existential crisis, while Liverpool are pinballing between the sublime and the ridiculous. Out of Europe and both domestic cups, Liverpol’s season is not quite dead yet, although defeat tonight at the Bridge should put a bullet in their faint top-four hopes, the bare minimum for a passable campaign.
Here’s how things stand before kick-off. I’m going to have to post the entire league table because … er … both teams are nowhere near the top of it.
Much has been written about Chelsea in recent days, and if you haven’t quite caught up with the whole picture, might I suggest you start here, here and here. Oh, and watch this.
Chelsea have followed Tottenham in sacking their manager, retaining most of said manager’s staff, and carrying on as normal as though nobody is watching. Bruno Saltor might be a generational managerial talent that has finally got his chance, but he’s more likely to be a Diet Potter, having followed Graham from Brighton’s first-team to Brighton’s backroom staff to Chelsea’s backroom staff. It’s a struggle to see how Chelsea will be transformed. Blues fans have every right to be as worried as Tottenham ones at the moment.
What we can say for certain is that we have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. And that’s quite exciting, isn’t it?
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
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