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“You’ll Never Walk Alone” echoes around Anfield. How about Chris McCausland on Strictly, eh? Anyway, kick-off is coming up …
“This should be a highly entertaining fixture,” writes Mary Waltz. “On VAR. Bin it. Has it reduced the amount of controversy? No. Accept human frailty and go back to human decisions.” I don’t think there’s any chance VAR will be binned; it still feels to me that in England, it’s the way officials use the system that is largely to blame.
And Arne Slot: “It’s always the next game, it’s a tough one as Chelsea are doing well this season. It’s no surprise to me, they have a lot of very good players, so an interesting challenge.”
Here’s Enzo Maresca: “Reece was injured, now he’s back, hopefully he can get minutes and get a bit more fit. I know Romeo very well from City, it’s similar, he just needs games [but] he’s back to help us.”
“Today’s game won’t define where we are, if we win or not. We try to prepare in the best way, get points, and then we’ll see.”
Full time: Wolves 1-2 Manchester CityIncredible VAR drama (Varma?) at Molineux, as John Stones heads a last-gasp winner … only for Stuart Attwell to send the referee over to the monitor. But after a quick look, Chris Kavanagh sticks with his onfield decision! You can unpick all that with Daniel Harris.
Reece James captains Chelsea in his first appearance since May; he slots in at right-back with Malo Gusto on the left, covering the suspended Marc Cucurella. Wesley Fofana is also out after getting a fifth booking, with Tosin Adarabioyo coming in, while Roméo Lavia replaces Enzo Fernández in midfield.
Three changes for Liverpool, with Andy Robertson back in place of Tsimikas, and Dominik Szoboszlai replacing Alexis Mac Allister. That could mean Curtis Jones moves back alongside Ryan Gravenberch in midfield. In goal, Caoimhin Kelleher replaces the injured Alisson.
As it stands, Liverpool will kick off the game top of the table – because after Arsenal lost at Bournemouth, Manchester City are labouring at Molineux, where it’s 1-1 with 15-odd minutes to play. Follow that one with Daniel Harris:
Team newsLiverpool (4-2-3-1): Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Szoboszlai, Salah, Gakpo; Diogo Jota.
Subs: Jaros, Gomez, Endo, Díaz, Núñez, Mac Allister, Tsimikas,
Quansah, Morton.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Sánchez; James, Adarabioyo, Colwill, Gusto; Lavia, Caicedo; Madueke, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson.
Subs: Bettinelli, Disasi, Badiashile, Pedro Neto, Fernández, João Félix, Nkunku, Dewsbury-Hall, Veiga.
Referee: John Brooks. VAR: Michael Oliver.
PreambleArne Slot and Enzo Maresca, two humble, softly-spoken, fashionably bald tracksuit managers, both stepped into pre-warmed seats in the Premier League at the start of this season. Slot arrived from Feyenoord with the unenviable task of replacing one of Liverpool’s greatest and most beloved managers; Maresca, on the other hand, took up a pew nobody much seemed to want, or have any hope of staying in for long.
For both new arrivals, the early signs have been positive. Liverpool have barely broken stride, winning six of their first seven league games while developing a more considered style under Slot. When Chelsea opted to ditch Mauricio Pochettino and bring Maresca in, they looked doomed to another reset – but the Italian has already assembled an exciting, youthful first XI who are outpacing early expectations.
Which brings us to today’s showdown at Anfield. This fixture brought little joy to the visitors in the Jürgen years. Seven different Chelsea coaches faced Klopp on his home turf in the league; the only one who got a win is now the England manager. Liverpool start as favourites, and a victory would cement their status as bona fide title contenders.
On the other hand, if Chelsea can rewrite recent history and win here, they would move a point behind Liverpool, suddenly back in the title race conversation themselves after years of turbulence. An intriguing contest awaits, kicking off at 4.30pm BST (yes, still BST). Let’s go!