Chelsea have a chance to upset Liverpool – and the odds
Chelsea are gearing up to host Premier League leaders Liverpool in a huge six-pointer at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
The Blues’ 100% start to the season came crashing down with a 0-0 draw away at West Ham on Sunday and they are now third in the table.
Liverpool are still protecting a perfect record, two points clear of Chelsea, but Maurizio Sarri’s men now have a great opportunity to derail their title charge.
Victory would spark serious confidence among the troops and lay down a statement of intent to all the Blues’ rivals, so there is a great deal at stake.
Chelsea are the underdogs for this game according to the oddsmakers, its highly recommended to read a sportsbetting.ag review if you’re looking to wager on the game.
It must be more than a decade since the Blues were last rated as the outsiders in a home game against Liverpool. But it is a reflection of Liverpool’s aggressive and ambitious summer transfer window, in which they vastly outspent Chelsea to snap up the likes of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Alisson.
The Reds finished ahead of Chelsea in the table last season and reached the Champions League final, and they have made a blistering start to the new campaign, so they are the shorter-priced favourites.
Chelsea’s chance
But this gives Chelsea a fantastic opportunity to make a mockery of any talk of a power shift in the Premier League.
Liverpool have not won the league in 28 years, whereas Chelsea are Premier League heavyweights and regular title winners. In front of a passionate home crowd, they can really take Liverpool down a peg or two.
The Reds will be surging with confidence after picking up away wins against Tottenham and Leicester in the past month. But Chelsea have also been excellent at home, beating Arsenal, Bournemouth and Cardiff.
If they can pick up three points in this game it would have massive ramifications for the title race even at this early stage. The Blues are certainly capable of picking up a result.
The midfield battle
N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic form a magnificent triumvirate in midfield, and they could run rings around James Milner and co.
Liverpool are yet to properly unleash Keita and Fabinho and Milner, Jordan Henderson and Giorginio Wijnaldum have seen the most playing time. Chelsea’s midfield looks vastly superior on paper in that contest.
Defensive frailties
There are also still serious question marks over Liverpool’s defence. The arrivals of Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk have tightened it, but they are still vulnerable, and Hazard and Willian could have a field day against their full-backs.
Chelsea are unlikely to keep a clean sheet against a rampant Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, but they could easily outscore Liverpool in this game.
They need Alvaro Morata and Olivier Giroud to find their shooting boots, and they need to get Hazard on the ball as often as possible, but it is certainly a game Chelsea could win.
Upsetting the odds
They should thrive on the pressure to make a mockery of their status as underdogs. A couple of years ago the notion of Liverpool being favourites to win in the league at the Bridge would have been ridiculous. It is time to bring Jurgen Klopp’s upstarts back down to earth.
The bookies rate Chelsea as the third favourites to win the title this season, with champions Man City still odds-on to defend their crown and Liverpool dropping all the time.
But the Blues won the title in 2014/15 and 2016/17, defying the odds both times, and they have the quality to win the league again this season if they can turn it on against big teams like Liverpool.
They look rejuvenated thus far under Sarri and it will be intriguing to see how they respond to the pressure of Saturday’s game.
