Liverpool hosts Chelsea FC in the Premier League headliner fixture, and it’s clash that comes with some fresh injury/fitness concerns/updates. For Chelsea, it’s striker Christopher Nkunku and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. On the Liverpool side, it’s the versatile young budding superstar Conor Bradley.
Let’s break it all down, as we preview the weekend’s top matchup.
Liverpool at Chelsea FC FYIs
Kickoff: Sunday, May 4, 4:30pm, Stamford Bridge, London, UK
Team News: Liverpool Chelsea
Starting XI Predictions: Liverpool Chelsea
Google Result Probability: Liverpool 30% Draw 25% Chelsea FC 45%
PL Form, Standing: Liverpool CHAMPIONS Chelsea FC WDDWW 5th, 60 pts
Team News for Both Sides
Reds boss Arne Slot on Bradley: “He will train with us today, so that’s the first start and let’s see how he does. We expect him to be available. I don’t know if that means that he is available to start, but if all goes well today and tomorrow, he will probably be in the squad, yeah.”
So if that’s the case, expect him to just make a cameo off the bench, and in the later stages. Joe Gomez remains a long-term injury absentee with his hamstring condition. That completes Liverpool, so we’ll just shift gears to the Blues, starting with Nkunku.
He missed the big Conference League win in Stockholm last night, due to an unspecified knock.
“Christo has a small problem,” Blues boss Enzo Maresca said of Nkunku.
“When we get back to Cobham, the medical staff will tell me how he is and what his status is. He wasn’t with us in Sweden.”
While Nkunku has endured an injury-plagued stint with Chelsea, this sounds like something not very worrisome.
So a late fitness test for him, and for Sanchez, with Maresca clarifying:
“When we get back to Cobham, the medical staff will tell me how he is and what his status is. He is working on the pitch, so compared to Christo, he is in a better situation. He wasn’t with us in Sweden either.”
Other than that, the Chelsea situation remains the same.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter