Liverpool return to Anfield on Saturday lunchtime dented from their Manchester United ordeal.
Indeed, last time out on their travels, the Reds must’ve thought that they’d salvaged a 2-2 draw from the jaws of defeat.
After only 14 minutes on the clock at Old Trafford, Arne Slot’s men were two goals down, owing to a Matheus Cunha opener and a controversial Benjamin Sesko goal.
Thankfully, both Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo would spearhead a spirited second-half comeback, to give the away side a fighting chance of picking up some points at their arch nemesis.
Kobbie Mainoo had other ideas, though, as the young homegrown United talent would power an effort past a stationary Freddie Woodman to hand the ecstatic hosts a dramatic 3-2 win.
Liverpool will be able to quickly forget about this depressing result, which has harmed their Champions League chances momentarily, if they were to beat Chelsea on Saturday lunchtime.
With the Blues just fresh off a sobering 3-1 defeat, too, the ball is firmly in Liverpool’s court to return to winning ways and put this defeat at United down as a blip.
Everything you need to know, ahead of the fascinating clash at Anfield, is below.
How to watch
The early kick-off on Saturday will be available to watch for viewers in the UK on TNT Sports 1, with the game getting underway at 12:30 pm.
The pre-match coverage on TNT Sports begins at 11 am.
Recent form
Liverpool (home team)
Liverpool have headed into games at Anfield this season with far bleaker circumstances hanging over them.
Away from losing at Old Trafford late on, Liverpool have won three of their last four games in all competitions, which have included wins on home soil against Fulham and Crystal Palace in league action.
Their only other loss, across their last five games, fell when Paris Saint-Germain travelled to Merseyside and won 2-0 to round off their 4-0 Champions League aggregate victory in April.
Liverpool fans will be hoping they get to see the confident version of their side at Anfield on Saturday, as opposed to the one that rolled over for the Ligue 1 giants, with Chelsea’s recent form wretched in comparison.
Chelsea (away team)
Calum McFarlane has his work cut out for him to get a tune out of this hopeless Chelsea team.
Across their last five games in all competitions, the West London side have only been victorious once, which was the interim head coach’s debut game in charge, as Chelsea progressed through to the FA Cup final with a slim 1-0 win over Leeds United.
Other than that, though, it has been constant defeats for the six-time Premier League title winners, with six top-flight defeats in a row capped off with a horrible 3-1 loss at home to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, last time out.
Can Chelsea pull off an unexpected result on their travels to Anfield?
Head-to-head results
The head-to-head results over the years do indicate that a Chelsea upset could potentially be on the horizon, with the Blues winning the last two meetings between the teams that took place in 2025, both by a narrow 2-1 scoreline.
Away from last year’s results in isolation, the overall head-to-head record does weigh in Liverpool’s favour, slightly, with the Reds winning 87 of the 200 meetings between the two teams in their respective histories.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Overall Head-to-Head:
| Played | Liverpool Wins | Draws | Chelsea wins |
| 200 | 87 | 46 | 67 |
Chelsea have won their fair share at 67, with 46 draws also taking place.
Therefore, it isn’t cut and dry that Slot and Co. will win on Saturday, especially with how inconsistent they have been as of late.
They do have some positive news on the injury front that will boost their chances of a much-needed victory, as Alexander Isak is expected to feature, alongside Florian Wirtz and Ibrahima Konate, dusting off slight knocks to be back in contention to start.
Team news
Liverpool: Alisson (out), Hugo Ekitike (out), Mohamed Salah (out), Wataru Endo (out), Giovanni Leoni (out) and Conor Bradley (out)
Chelsea: Jesse Derry (out), Jamie Gittens (out), Estevao (out), Mykhaylo Mudryk (out), Pedro Neto (doubt), Alejandro Garnacho (out) and Robert Sanchez (doubt)
Predicted lineups
Liverpool: (4-2-3-1) – Woodman; Jones, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Frimpong, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Isak
Chelsea: (4-2-3-1) – Jorgensen; James, Colwill, Chalobah, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo; Palmer Fernandez, Pedro; Delap
What has been said
Arne Slot (Liverpool):
Despite Chelsea’s poor recent form giving Liverpool some crumbs of comfort that they can pick up a much-needed win, Slot is expecting a tough showdown with the Blues on Saturday.
He said: “If the information is correct, a few of their players that they’ve been really missing have come back. So, it will probably be a stronger team than last week – if the players that they say are back are back.
“That will be massive for them, as it is for any team. If you miss out on your best players, that’s never helpful to get results. But it’s always a difficult game for both teams because there’s so much quality on both ends.
“So, it doesn’t matter that much at the moment, I think, how much you lost or how much you won. It’s a game between a lot of very good individual players and let’s hope we have a very good team performance as well because that usually helps individuals in being even better.”
Additionally, the under-fire Dutchman spoke of his desire to try and steer his team to a positive end to the season, after the hangover from his Premier League title success has somewhat derailed the unfolding campaign.
He further added: “I think the season has gone in a way that even if we have three wins and three very positive results, I don’t think everyone will still be positive about how we ended the season [or] how the season has been.
“It’s important, as I said now so many times, that we get at least one win over the line, which we think is enough to qualify [for the Champions League] – we’re not sure because four points makes it completely clear.
“That’s what we need to do and what we are trying, which we’ve tried the whole season – to do this in the best possible way performing-wise, which has not always happened, but that’s always been the aim.
“The positive thing is that a few of the players that can be really important for us are either coming back for the weekend or after the weekend, so that can only help us to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Calum McFarlane (Chelsea):
In the opposing dugout, McFarlane also took questions ahead of his side leaving Stamford Bridge behind for the lunchtime clash at Anfield.
Strikingly, McFarlane was asked about his thoughts on Jamie Carragher’s searing comments post the 3-1 loss to Forest, as he claimed the Blues were a ‘broken club.’
The interim manager fired back by stating: “It’s Jamie’s job, he’s a pundit, he’s got to give his opinion and I respect that, that’s his job and it’s what he’s there to do.
“I can only speak on my experience at this club and I think that there’s a lot of foundations for this team to have success.
“We’re not in the best form at the moment, we’re not performing the way we should be, but I do think there are foundations there for this team to be successful.
