Liverpool begin the 2023/24 Premier League campaign with a trip to Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
Jurgen Klopp has lost just one of his eight visits to Chelsea’s home ground in the English top flight – falling foul of an Olivier Giroud goal in May 2018. Liverpool defeated Chelsea in both domestic cup finals in 2022 but haven’t beaten the Blues in regulation time for almost three years.
Here’s the XI Klopp may deploy to get the new campaign off to a winning start.
GK: Alisson – Kai Havertz was the last Chelsea player to score a goal against Alisson all the way back in August 2021.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – With two goals – both from free-kick routines – Alexander-Arnold’s favourite opponents to score against are Chelsea.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – Building a strong partnership alongside Virgil van Dijk but the drop-off to Liverpool’s next centre-back has fans worried.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – Liverpool’s new captain after Jordan Henderson’s hypocritical departure to Saudi Arabia.
LB: Andy Robertson – Didn’t earn a win at Stamford Bridge until his fifth visit. Robertson last lost in Chelsea’s slice of west London five years ago.
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai – Lost his debuts in the Austrian and German top flight for Red Bull’s clubs in Salzburg and Leipzig. Now no longer a pawn in the marketing game of a fizzy drink company, can Szoboszlai pop off for Liverpool straight away?
CM: Curtis Jones – Unless Moises Caicedo is rushed into the starting XI within days of his arrival, Jones could fill Liverpool’s scantily clad defensive midfield role.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister – Part of the Brighton team that beat Chelsea home and away last season. Mac Allister is unbeaten in five appearances against the Blues.
RW: Mohamed Salah – The former Chelsea winger has made more appearances and scored more goals against the Blues than he ever did in the club’s colours.
ST: Cody Gakpo – Convinced Klopp with his work ethic rapidly. “What I like about this is that he is obviously a guy who doesn’t want to jump on a running train,” the Liverpool manager gushed. “He wants to push the train. I like that a lot.”
LW: Luis Diaz – Faces a real fight for his position as both of Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota can comfortably slot onto the left wing.
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