Chelsea host Liverpool in a midweek battle of two of the Premier League’s fallen giants.
Graham Potter paid with his job following the Blues’ latest abject defeat, going down 2-0 losers to Aston Villa on Saturday. Bruno Saltor has since stepped in while Todd Boehly searches for a replacement.
While Chelsea head into this meeting in 11th place, Liverpool are only three points ahead of them in the standings having fought for a quadruple at this stage last season. Their most recent outing saw the Reds well beaten by Manchester City.
Chelsea team news
Saltor is likely to make some changes to the failing formula his former colleague used time and time again.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Hakim Ziyech, Denis Zakaria and David Datro Fofana were all left out of Saturday’s matchday squad for tactical reasons and are fit, so one or two could return to the fold.
Mason Mount – a transfer target for Liverpool – may start, while Raheem Sterling and N’Golo Kante are also vying for places. Armando Broja and Thiago Silva are definitely out, while Edouard Mendy, Wesley Fofana and Cesar Azpilicueta are doubts.
Chelsea predicted lineup (3-4-3):
Kepa; Fofana, Koulibaly, Badiashile; James, Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell; Mount, Havertz, Felix.
Liverpool team news
Jurgen Klopp made a quadruple change with 20 minutes remaining in Saturday’s 4-1 thrashing at Manchester City and though you’d expect him to make a few more at Stamford Bridge, he doesn’t really have much room for manoeuvre.
Luis Diaz and Thiago Alcantara could return to the bench, though Naby Keita remains out and Stefan Bajcetic is out for the season.
Liverpool predicted lineup (4-3-3):
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Salah, Gakpo, Nunez
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