Chelsea at Liverpool, on Thursday night, is not going to be the monumental match that most believed it would be back when the schedule came out. The reigning champions, who set records for how early they clinched the title, versus the giant club that won the summer transfer window- circle the date, right?
Well, no, not so much, as this match has no title implications, only consequence on the top four race.
Chelsea at Liverpool FYIs
Kickoff: Thur Mar 4, 8:15 GMT, Anfield
Team News: Liverpool
Starting XI Predictions: Chelsea Liverpool
Odds: Chelsea +210 Liverpool +260
PL Position, Form Guide: Chelsea 5th, 44 pts, DDWWW Liverpool 6th, 43 pts WLLLL
Team News
Thiago Silva, out since the Feb. 4 Tottenham game with a hamstring strain, has now returned to training. He had been with doing individual workouts ahead of the goalless draw with United, but now he’s back with the rest of the squad. He could feature, but one shouldn’t expect him to start.
Manager Thomas Tuchel has said they’ll bring him along slowly.
Callum Hudson-Odoi had to be subbed off at halftime versus United, due to an unspecified knock. It appears to be a minor issue, so he could be in the squad here too.
“[He is] a little bit injured and the reason was a tactical decision and little injury combination because we switched to a back five in defence and covered the right position of Rashford in between Azpi and Reece James in the second half,” Tuchel said after the match.
“It was not an option to use Callum there. That’s why it was a tactical choice.” These are the only two fitness concerns for Chelsea right now.
Chelsea 1, Liverpool 0
In general, clashes between big six sides this season have been very hard to watch as we’re seeing more pragmatism and ramped up conservatism. Tuchel’s Chelsea play so defensive to begin with that we just can’t expect to see many goals in this one.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.