Liverpool vs Chelsea LIVE: Stream, TV channel, kick-off time as Firmino and Elliot start for Reds, Lukaku for Blues

ON THE FIELD

• 19x League Titles
• 6x European Trophies
• 1x FIFA World Club Cup
• 7x FA Cups
• 8x League Cups

But most importantly, the home of Liverpool Football Club.

SunSport family, I present to you… ANFIELD

LUK AT ME NOW

Many players have struggled over the years to live up to their price tag but it’s nice to see that Romelu Lukaku’s transfer fee of £97.5 million hasn’t thrown the Belgian striker off his game not one bit.

As a matter of fact, it seems to have made him a little more confident or cocky depending on what way you look at it.

I like the system that we play and I’m very flexible. I can play as a two or by myself and I’m used to the system because it’s what we play with the Belgian national team so I don’t need much time to adapt. It’s just knowing the strengths of my team-mates in important positions and knowing what we do off the ball, then I can do the rest.

Romelu LukakuChelseafc.com

IN THE RED CORNER

The Liverpool boys are back in town with their masks on and their eyes on the prize.

CHELSEA BENCH

1 Kepa, 21 Chilwell, 14 Chalobah, 6 Thiago Silva, 8 Kovacic, 12 Loftus-Cheek, 20 Hudson-Odoi, 22 Ziyech, 11 Werner

JORG OF THE JUNGLE

The man, the myth, the legend, Chelsea’s very own Jorginho is in the starting eleven off the back of clinching UEFA’s Player of the Year award.

Will this triumph give him the boost needed to battle against a tough Liverpool midfield or will the likes of Fabinho and Henderson bring him back down to reality.

CHELSEA XI

The Chelsea gaffer almost named an unchanged side from the victory in North London last Sunday over Arsenal but he opted to go with N’Golo Kante in the middle of the park instead of Mateo Kovacic.

But the one suprise comes from the bench and that is involving Loftus-Cheek who has been deemed to be eligible for this game after contracting covid-19 last week.

(3-4-2-1) 16 Mendy; 28 Azpilicueta, 4 Christensen, 2 Ruediger; 24 James, 5 Jorginho, 7 N’Golo Kante, 3 Alonso; 19 Mount, 29 Havertz; 9 Lukaku

LIVERPOOL BENCH

62 Kelleher, 5 Konate, 6 Thiago, 8 Keita, 12 Gomez, 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 18 Minamino, 20 Jota, 21 Tsimikas

LIVERPOOL XI

Jurgen Klopp has decided to make three changes from the side who cruised to a 2-0 victory last weekend against Burnley.

Fabinho makes his return to midfield in the absence of Naby Keita.

Despite Diogo Jota socring 2/2 in Liverpool’s opening games, the Reds boss puts his trust in Roberto Firmino to step in as the vocal point from the start.

And Andy Robertson has completely shaken off his ankle ligament damage resulting in the Scottish international regaining his spot back in the first XI in replace of Kostas Tsimikas.

(4-3-3) 1 Alisson; 66 Alexander-Arnold, 32 Matip, 4 Van Dijk, 26 Robertson; 14 Henderson, 3 Fabinho, 67 Elliot; 11 Salah, 9 Firmino, 10 Mane

AND ON THAT NOTE

THE STARTING LINE-UPS ARE IN!

CHELSEA TEAM NEWS

With the team sheets soon to be announced, Thomas Tuchel still has a couple of absentees but fortunately for the Chelsea boss, there are no new additions to the treatment table.

Both Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are currently following Government protocols by self-isolating for a minimum of 10 days having recording a positive Covid-19 test.

This ultimately means that providing no further hiccups, the duo won’t be returning to action for the Blues until at least after the international break.

There was a slight concern over Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech who picked up a shoulder injury in Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup win over Villarreal.

And despite Tuchel stating that Ziyech would be unavailable for the outing to the Emirates last Sunday, the ex-Ajax magician managed to get eight minutes in the tank to see out the 2-0 victory over Arsenal so it will be interesting to see whether he will be involved today.

Another player who felt the raft of Villarreal in that Super Cup triumph was UEFA Midfielder of the Year N’Golo Kante.

The French international felt a tweak in his ankle during the game and was forced off early which evidently resulted in him missing the first game of the Premier League campaign.

However, the World Cup winner made an 18-minute cameo appearance last weekend in North London and with a week’s worth of training under his belt, I would expect to see the 30-year-old back in the first XI.

CHELSEA OPENING GAMES  

Thomas Tuchel’s boys have picked up from where they have left off last season.

Entering the new campaign with a Super Cup to their name and now back-to-back convincing victories against London rivals Arsenal and Crystal Palace.

NICE ONE SON

In continuation to Andy Robertson, congratulations are in order because the Scotland captain put pen paper this week signing a new deal which will keep him at Liverpool until 2026.

He could only make the bench in the previous 2-0 win against Burnley but I’m sure he would love to celebrate his new contract with a victory inspiring performance today over the Blues.

LIVERPOOL SQUAD UPDATE

I can’t believe I am saying this and I know it’s early days but after their injury crisis last season the Reds only have one player in the treatment room during the course of a Premier League campaign and that unlucky member is Premier League legend, James Milner.

The Liverpool boss said: “Millie will not be ready – I think that’s it pretty much.”

Jordan Henderson and Thiago have fitness concerns due to less preparation time for the 2021/22 campaign having represented their respective countries in the EUROS this summer.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to return after the birth of his child last week and there is still speculation of whether midfield maestro, Fabinho will be involved following the tragic passing of his father.

However, Klopp has declared that all the players are fit enough to make an appearance and everyone “trained and looked sharp” ahead of the clash with Chelsea.

A major concern for the Liverpool gaffer was the situation on Andy Robertson who suffered an ankle ligament injury in the pre-season friendly against Athletic Bilbao.

The Scot was initially predicted to be on the side-lines for at least a couple months which left the whole club living in a de-ja-vu moment from last season’s injuries.

But thankfully for Klopp, the 27-year-old has made a miraculous recovery and has even stated that he is “ready to play” against Chelsea.

Discussing his injury, Robertson took to the club website to say: “Obviously I’ve been very lucky in my career that I’ve not had too many injuries and certainly not long-term injuries and long may that continue.

“But yeah, I’m a nightmare when I’m injured and I want to get back out on the pitch as quickly as possible.

“I’ll be ready, I’ll be ready to play, and like I said, I’ll hopefully be fit for the rest of the season now.”

LIVERPOOL RECENT RESULTS

The 6x European winners mean business this year.

Two Premier League matches played, two victories recorded. Five goal scored and all without a single reply.

The perfect start to a season for Jurgen Klopp and his boys but the real test will be today.

KON-FIDENCE IS KEY

As for the Merseyside giants, they haven’t secured a marquee addition which the fans would have hoped for after their poor title defence.

However, after the monstrosity of a situation Jurgen Klopp was left in following the injuries to all of his key defenders last season, the Liverpool recruitment team may have made the smartest signing of the window.

The Reds triggered the release clause of former RB Leipzig rock Ibrahima Konate bringing him to Anfield for only £36 million at the back-end of May.

Konate is a young highly-rated Frenchman who attracted a lot of attention from big clubs across Europe for his outstanding performances in the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

The former RB Leipzig defender is yet to feature in the Premier League for Liverpool this season but should Klopp be unfortunately left in another injury crisis again this campaign, then the Reds boss has an unbelievable talent to call upon at the back.

SO RO-MANTIC

After failing to score a single goal in 16 appearances for Chelsea in his first spell with them, the Belgian talisman managed to get off the mark in under 15 minutes against Arsenal last weekend.

It truly was a love story.

TRANSPARENT TUCHEL

It’s no secret that the Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel is pleased with his mega summer signing this transfer window.

In a nutshell, the German almost ran out of compliments to smother Romelu Lukaku in when addressing the former Inter Milan striker in his post-match press conference against the Gunners.

I certainly think that nobody likes to play against him, everyone is aware of his physicality and his link-up play and ability to attack the space. He gives another dimension to our game.
He’s got the whole package; he was always a Chelsea fan whose dream was to make it here.

Thomas TuchelSkySports

LUK OUT LIVERPOOL

The Reds don’t have Eden Hazard to deal with anymore but some may argue that Jurgen Klopp has an even bigger threat on his hands thanks to a certain Belgian goal-scoring machine.

Despite the Blues securing the club football’s biggest trophy last season, the Champions League and most recently the Super Cup, many pundits felt that Thomas Tuchel’s team had a missing piece to their jigsaw puzzle.

Well, here he is!

Chelsea were in need of a prolific finisher in the previous campaign but after seven years, they managed to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club for a staggering £97 million.

This signing shows huge ambitions from the club in their hunt for the Premier League and it displays the pull of Chelsea because before a bid came in for Lukaku, he was so adamant on staying at his former club Inter Milan.

The Belgian marksman has already picked up where he left off in 2020/21 season by netting his first goal back in Chelsea colours against Arsenal and it only took him 14 minutes to do so.

But now Lukaku will be coming up against the likes of Virgil Van Dijk and Joel Matip where things will be a little more difficult for the Blues striker. Can he really prove to be the missing piece to Chelsea’s puzzle?

GARDEN OF EDEN

I have no words.

Just sit back and enjoy (if you don’t support Liverpool) because this is an outrageous goal by former Chelsea magician, Eden Hazard.

FLASHBACK

The last time Liverpool welcomed Chelsea to Anfield, the Reds made history but for all the wrong reasons.

After going on a 68-game unbeaten home run over the course of a three year time frame, the 1-0 defeat by Thomas Tuchel’s men was Liverpool’s 5th consecutive defeat in Merseyside.

Chelsea were still in their honeymoon period with new manager Tuchel and they thought they had the perfect start to this fierce rivalry clash on the 25th minute through Timo Werner.

The German international latched onto a scrumptious through ball by Jorginho, before looping it over an oncoming Alisson and tapped the ball into an empty net.

However, VAR was quick on the scene to rule the strike out for offside having spotted Werner failing to time his run in an extremely tight call.

Sadio Mane then had the chance to add to Chelsea’s miseries moments later by putting Liverpool ahead, but the Senegalese international somehow mis-timed his shot after he was brilliantly picked out by Mo Salah with a cross field ball.

But that didn’t stop the Blues from ramping up the pressure and their persistence paid off right on the stroke of half-time when English starlet Mason Mount fired an absolute belter past the Liverpool goalkeeper thanks to a delightful ball from N’Golo Kante.

Despite Jurgen Klopp’s men illustrating a lackluster performance in the first 45, at only 1-0 down the Reds were still in with a chance of snatching some points from the match.

In the second half, their constant play of possession demonstrated more urgency, but the final third was letting them down – something you would hardly associate with Liverpool’s attacking options.

As time ticked on, Klopp’s side began to get desperate which left gaps at the back for Chelsea to exploit and had it not been for the bravery of Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson to keep out a Werner effort from close range, Liverpool would have been 2-0 down.

But the one goal was enough for Tuchel’s team to secure the victory and go seven points clear of the 5x Champions League winners who were stuck in seventh spot at the time.

LEAGUE RANKINGS

It’s a little too early to class this game as a title decider but Liverpool and Chelsea are most certainly contenders to clinch the Premier League come the end of the 2021/22 campaign and both are off to the perfect start.

A win for either side would fire them to the summit of the table depending on the final results of West Ham’s trip to Crystal Palace and Brighton’s fixture against Everton.

FANTASTIC

It’s so good to have fans back in the stadiums especially for huge encounter like the one this evening.

By the way, surely that little lad isn’t the only one turning up today?

GOOD AFTERNOON

Come on in SunSport family, everyone is welcome as long as your hands are washed and sanitised.

I must admit, as fans of the beautiful game, tailing right back to the beginning of June, we have truly been spoilt this summer.

First of all, there was the Euros which ran alongside Copa America. Shortly after that, the Olympic Football came into play.

And then exactly a week later, the first game of the 2021/22 Premier League season got under-way where we witnessed new boys Brentford humiliate Arsenal on the opening day.

Since then, there has been nothing but drama across the division and in regards to the game that has been penciled in this afternoon, I am expecting a whole lot more entertainment.

• Jordan Henderson vs Jorginho
• Mo Salah vs Thiago Silva
• Virgil Van Dijk vs Romelu Lukaku
• Jurgen Klopp vs Thomas Tuchel

Ladies and gentleman, our live blog today will be coverage of 5x Premier League winners Chelsea who are set to take on 5x Champions League winners Liverpool at the home of the Kop End commonly known as Anfield.

Both teams have had a blistering start to the season winning both of their opening games and also scoring five goals in two games with no reply.

Talk about identical.

Jurgen Klopp’s men comfortably cruised past Norwich with a 3-0 victory on match-day one before putting Burnley to the sword last weekend.

As for the Champions of Europe, they are two for two in Premier League games and London derbies this season because both of their victories have ironically come against London based teams Crystal Palace and Arsenal.

What makes this game so enticing is that both clubs are joint at the top going into the third round of fixtures, however, someone’s 100% record to the start of the campaign, has to come to an end this evening.

Coming right up we will have all the latest gossip, injury news and of course, the highly anticipated starting line-ups all before kick-off which is scheduled for 17:30 UK time.

How else would you want to spend your Saturday afternoon other than continuing to tune in?