Pre Match - Chelsea (H) - Saturday 17:30

[Brizzle]

Naby has performed well against Chelsea in the past, even scored in that game we lifted the trophy at.

Agree with everyone on Robbo - great that he can be rotated, and the benefit of that should be he is 100% for big games, this doesn't quite fit that category but we know he's made of strong stuff and we can give him less playing time after if we need to manage his workload. I'd much rather have Robbo vs. James than Kostas vs. James at this stage.

 

[Modo]

Will Fabinho definitely be available?

We won't know until we see him in training again.

 

[Modo]

Liverpool have blocked Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson form playing for their countries next week due to concerns over Covid-19 and quarantine rules.
Salah was called up to the Egypt squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and Angola while the other three players were set to be picked for Brazil's three fixtures.
Both Egypt and Brazil are on the UK's red travel list, meaning the players would have faced a 10-day quarantine in a hotel upon their return to England.

- Daily mail

 

[doctor_mac]

Liverpool have blocked Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson form playing for their countries next week due to concerns over Covid-19 and quarantine rules.
Salah was called up to the Egypt squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and Angola while the other three players were set to be picked for Brazil's three fixtures.
Both Egypt and Brazil are on the UK's red travel list, meaning the players would have faced a 10-day quarantine in a hotel upon their return to England.

- Daily mail

I hope this is true. But can't FIFA fuck with us for this?

 

[Bradley]

I hope this is true. But can't FIFA fuck with us for this?

Hopefully they don't stop us playing in the AFCON.

 

[Frogfish]

I hope this is true. But can't FIFA fuck with us for this?

I posted something about this a few weeks ago. I remember that the decision to 'claim' the player had reverted to the countries concerned and was out of the clubs' hands. However maybe that decision has been postponed again due to Delta / rising cases.

 

[tomasjj]

Agree with Brizzle's selection.

Defensively, we need to deal with three things primarily:

2. Long balls to Lukaku - don't need to complicate this. Need Firmino's pressing to counter Jorginho's vertical passing. Deeper long balls, I'll trust van Dijk, Matip and Alisson to deal with. Lukaku is a big challenge, but there's not a defence across Europe who's more suited to deal with that challenge than ours.

.

Here Fabs drops to pick up the second balls from the center back tussles with Chav Purple Aki

 

[Fallon]

I'd love it if the club aren't really allowed to be doing that, but just did it anyway with a big fuck you to FIFA.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Get to fuck anyone dropping Jota who’s opening the scoring for us in both games so far.

Fabhino in
Thiago in
Robbo in.

Let’s fuck these up and open a 3 pt gap early doors to our two biggest rivals and then never look back winning 21 in a row please!

Becker
TAA
Matip
VVD
Robbo
Fabs
Thiago
Hendo
Jota
Mane
Salah

Strong bench with Firmino, Elliot, Milner, Gomez, The Greek, Konate, Kelleher, Keita, Ox

 

[tomasjj]

Tsimi doesn't deserve to be dropped. But it is Chelsea.

 

[Fabio]

Will Fabinho definitely be available?

This is the thing I'm most thinking about

 

[mark1975]

We used to just play a high line against Lukaku and take him out the game, but Chelsea as a team press higher, which affords someone like Lukaku the space to just pop up and do what he does best. They're a massive threat.

 

[Whaddapie]

I'm praying (to a god that doesn't exist) that Fabs is back, and mentally tuned in for this one... We're gonna need him, against a very, very strong side.

 

[Donavan Ried]

The questions are who starts up front, who starts in the middle and will Robbo return.

I can't see Robbo not returning if Klopp deems him fit enough to start. Tsimikas has looked even better than Robbo up front, both occasionally give away silly balls in midfield but Robbo is clearly a better defender and as a FB that is his primary function ... and we'll need him against this Chelsea side.

Surely Fabs will return. Everyone knows how big this game is and even draped in heartache I can't see Fabs not wanting to be there for this one. Milner will be passed fit but will be on the bench. Hendo is a cert. That leaves Keita or Thiago. That could go either way but I'll go for the more reliable & creative player (because we'll be needing a lot of creativity from midfield) in Thiago.

Up front Firmino has to come in. His tracking back and pressure on deep lying midfielders will be required against Jorginho (and maybe Kante) and is more important for this match than a better goal scorer. Salah is rightly undroppable. However I'd go for Jota over Mane. Mane may have the edge in pace but that's not of any value against the equally speedy James and experienced Azpilicueta. However Jota needs by far fewer chances than Mane (since he joined us he requires less minutes per goal, every 127, than even Mo) and his darting between players and the way he finds space could be of more value.

----------------------Alisson------------

TAA --- Matip--------------VVD ---------Robbo

--------------------- Fabs

-------- Hendo ---------------Thiago

Salah ----------- Firmino -------------- Jota

Think Keita is a better fit than Thiago and helps conteracts both James and .Kante to a greater degree than Thiago would

 

[Brizzle]

Will be interesting to see whether Chelsea saw how troubled we were by Burnley playing a front two and whether this entices them to get Werner on with Lukaku too.

 

[doctor_mac]

Will be interesting to see whether Chelsea saw how troubled we were by Burnley playing a front two and whether this entices them to get Werner on with Lukaku too.

I can't see it. Wood and Barnes are two big battering rams winning a great deal of long balls and second balls from knockdowns. Lukaku is big, but that isn't his game, and it certainly isn't Werners either. And Chelsea just don't play like that either.

 

[Shay_K]

I recall a match against Utd where VVD sent a sulking Lukaku off out to the wings as he simply couldn't breath in the same rarefied air as our lad. Looking forward to more of the same.

 

[binomial]

Will be interesting to see whether Chelsea saw how troubled we were by Burnley playing a front two and whether this entices them to get Werner on with Lukaku too.

No, no and no.

You really think Tuchel is going to chuck Werner in for Mount or Havertz (changing their shape) and suddenly they'll turn into Burnley for 1 game only?

 

[Frogfish]

I can't see it. Wood and Barnes are two big battering rams winning a great deal of long balls and second balls from knockdowns. Lukaku is big, but that isn't his game, and it certainly isn't Werners either. And Chelsea just don't play like that either.

Tuchel has mentioned going 4-2-4 though. But you're right ... it won't happen.

 

[eecheerow]

Firmino will be one of the first names on the team sheet. Henderson and Fabinho will start in the centre, likely alongside Keita I would think... massive match for him. Really hope Robbo is fit for this one.

 

[binomial]

Firmino will be one of the first names on the team sheet. Henderson and Fabinho will start in the centre, likely alongside Keita I would think... massive match for him. Really hope Robbo is fit for this one.

Based on what? Because Jota's got the nod twice and scored in both games.

 

[SummerOnions]

Lukaku was shit for United why are people suddenly scared of him?

 

[doctor_mac]

Lukaku was shit for United why are people suddenly scared of him?

Because he's stopped eating chips and drinking beer in a revolutionary new diet that has made him feel twice the player.

 

[Modo]

I feel a lot more confident having Matip and Van Dijk back.

 

[Modo]

Andy Robertson feels fit and ready to return to action against Chelsea on Saturday.

The left-back missed Liverpool’s opening two games of the Premier League season due to ankle ligament damage, but was back in the matchday squad as an unused substitute for last weekend’s 2-0 win over Burnley.
And he expects to be available for the upcoming clash with Thomas Tuchel’s side at Anfield.


“I’m back in full training now. I fully trained on Friday, just one day before the game - maybe a bit ahead of schedule but I think the physios just wanted rid of me, to be honest!” Robertson, whose new long-term contract with the club was announced on Tuesday, told Liverpoolfc.com.

“Obviously I’ve been very lucky in my career that I’ve not had too many injuries and certainly not long-term injuries, and long may that continue. But yeah, I’m a nightmare when I’m injured and I want to get back out on the pitch as quickly as possible.

“For me, as soon as I did it and I got the scan results I said, ‘I think Burnley is in my sights’ and there was a couple of people who said, ‘Yeah, you’ve got a chance’ so I managed to cling on to them and a couple of people said I had no chance so I avoided them until it was more realistic!

“I tried my best, I tried everything. I was out running [and] I felt as if I could maybe have trained a day or two earlier but the experts we have at this club are excellent and I still needed to tick a couple of boxes, and luckily I did that on the Thursday. Then I fully trained with the team on the Friday.

“Obviously the gaffer put me on the bench, which was probably unexpected but I was happy. When you’re at the game and everything is involved you just want [to be] on the pitch, but I think that was unrealistic yesterday [Saturday].

“Now I’ve trained today and I’ll have a full week of training so let’s see what happens against Chelsea. But I’ll be ready, I’ll be ready to play, and like I said I’ll hopefully be fit for the rest of the season now.”

 

[6TimesaRed]

Big game for the start of the season, I am both excited and nervous about this one. Chelsea looked dominant against Arsenal through their full backs, controlled back three and Lukaku up top. Could be a great battle of the full backs, and hopefully we can dominate the midfield if they stick to two in the middle.

For me - Fabs back is a must. Arsenal had huge gaps that a competent DM would deal with.

Would be nice to see Robbo back, but I do not fear Tsimikas who is in good form. Robbo's leadership would be a great added extra however.

Finally - Bobby comes back for me to bring high energy pressing of the Chelsea back three & Jorginho. Run them ragged before Jota is deployed second half.

-------------Alisson------------
Trent--Matip--VVD--Robbo
---------------Fabs--------------
--------Hendo----Keita--------
Salah------Firmino-----Mane


It's nice to have selection challenges with Tsimikas, Thiago, Jota, Elliot all potentials to feature in the starting line up.

Jota and the Greek should start in place of robbo and frim..

Other than that.. fine with that..


We can then look to bring on Frim, Elliot and Thiago in 2nd half just to add more silly ballers and pace to the game..

 

[tomasjj]

Obviously, I wish people would stop saying that all the time.

But top, top, top team/player/game, gets on my tits much more.

 

[doctor_mac]

Fabs in the training pics today. Even a few of him cracking some smiles....

 

[doctor_mac]

 

[Modo]

Wenger was there too...