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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 22
Liverpool v Chelsea
Anfield
Liverpool, England
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
Kick-off is at 22h15 CAT
Liverpool will look to snap a six-match winless streak against Chelsea in the
Premier League when they lock horns at Anfield on Wednesday, January 31.
The last five encounters between the two teams have ended in draws, with the Blues running out 1-0 victors on Merseyside on 4 March 2021 after the Reds triumphed 2-0 in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge on 20 September 2020.
Jurgen Klopp's side went five points clear of the chasing pack following their 4-0 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on January 21, having seen Manchester City (2nd) and Arsenal (3rd) also emerge victorious on matchday 21.
The Citizens edged Newcastle 3-2 at St James' Park on January 13 and the Gunners thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium seven days later to climb above Aston Villa (4th), who were held to a goalless draw by Everton at Goodison Park.
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Chelsea won three consecutive games for the first time this season when they beat West London neighbours Fulham 1-0 at the Bridge on January 13.
A fourth victory in five outings took Mauricio Pochettino's side up to ninth place, level with Brighton (8th) on 31 points and two clear of the Magpies (10th). They trail Manchester United (7th) by just one point with a vastly superior goal difference.
Darwin Nunez stepped up in the absence of Mohamed Salah against the Cherries, slotting home Diogo Jota's pass with a first-time finish to open the scoring before steering Joe Gomez's cross in off the right post to seal the win. It took the Uruguayan striker's tally for the season to seven goals from 20 appearances and he could have a bigger part to play after Salah picked up an injury at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
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Cole Palmer continues to go from strength to strength for the Blues, having kept his cool from the penalty spot to clinch victory against the Cottagers after playing in Raheem Sterling with a delightful pass which led to the winger being fouled inside the box. The attacking midfielder has now scored nine goals and provided four assists for his new team since making the switch from Manchester City in the off-season.
Klopp has urged his players to raise their game at the start of matches after failing to get on the scoresheet in the first half on the south coast.
"When we have momentum, we are good. When we start like we did today, we are not good. So we should make sure we should start games with better rhythm. Because it's not an attitude things, the players want to [start better]," the German told Sky Sports.
"The second half was much better. The opponent was in a good moment and I actually thought we made a bad start. We gave them momentum unnecessarily. We were not flexible enough, went long when we should have gone short and short when we should have gone long.
"The left side was completely static. But I told the boys at half-time it was good news. We hadn't been great but it was still 0-0. We changed formation and all of a sudden we were much more fluent. The support for the front line was much better. We were calm."
Pochettino can see the improvement being made by his team in recent weeks and hailed their professionalism and fighting spirit in the derby with Fulham.
"It's important for the team and the way we are building in this process," the Argentine said. "We need to feel confidence, trust, and also accept the criticism after we are beaten by Middlesbrough (in the first leg of the EFL Cup) because we are Chelsea.
"That is part of the process, part of our reality. The most important thing is we're strong and we know the way we need to keep working.
"The players today were very professional and I was very happy with the first 30 minutes of the second half, I think that is the way we need to play with freedom and we linked very well.
"Then it was good to see this young team defend in the last 15 minutes in the way we did. We were fighting and doing everything to keep the three points."
Liverpool v Chelsea Head-to-Head
(Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Liverpool - 0
Chelsea - 0
Draws - 5
Premier League Matchday 22 fixtures:
Tuesday, January 30
21h30: Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
21h45: Fulham v Everton
21h45: Luton Town v Brighton & Hove Albion
22h00: Crystal Palace v Sheffield United
22h15: Aston Villa v Newcastle United
Wednesday, January 31
21h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford
21h30: Manchester City v Burnley
22h15: Liverpool v Chelsea
Thursday, February 1
21h30: West Ham United v Bournemouth
22h15: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United
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