Liverpool and Chelsea meet for the first occasion on Wednesday, and their two meetings in four days will be fascinating to watch. The first meeting between these two comes in the Carabao Cup, which is far less important than the league meeting they have on Saturday, but still a game worth watching. While both teams are expected to rest many key players, they will be hoping their second string teams can win the game and give the club a momentum boost going into the meeting on Saturday.

It is expected that we will see big changes on both sides, and likely just three or four recognised first team players taking to the field on Wednesday. Both managers know how important the game on Saturday is, but both will want to win on Wednesday too, to gain a small momentum boost.

Impressive Start to Chelsea Life for Sarri

If you ask any Chelsea fan what they expected at the start of the season from their new manager Maurizio Sarri, it more than likely wasn’t what we have seen. A period of time to help Sarri bed in, get used to his new players and get used to the English game was expected, but so far he hasn’t need it. Sarri won his first five league games before a draw away at West Ham ended that run on Sunday. Despite that, The Blues are still unbeaten and currently sit third in the Premier League, which makes this a much better start than what was expected.

Sarri has brought a new up tempo feel to the way that Chelsea play, and we may not have seen the best of that yet. He wants his team to press higher up the field, and he also wants his defensive players to play out from the back, something we are seeing more often as football changes and evolves. With little time to work with his players this summer due to the World Cup, it is highly likely that they are still getting used to the system put in place by Sarri, and they could find more improvement as they learn the finer details of it.

The plan at Chelsea wouldn’t have involved instant success, and had Chelsea struggled to get to grips with the new system brough in by Sarri, I don’t think too many fans would have complained, they would have understood the situation. However, they have to be impressed with what has happened so far, and must surely be looking towards what the future will bring. I expect they will fall away from the title race eventually, but it would be no surprise to see them climb back into the top four in Sarri’s first season as their manager.

Are Liverpool on the Verge of the Next Level?

We have seen the top four in the Premier League turn into a top six over recent seasons but Manchester City blew that out of the water last season. We went from having a competitive top six to having one team alone in front with the other five chasing them. Are Liverpool the team who will make the next change to that, and will we see them join Manchester City and give us two clear top teams, with four others in behind chasing them.

The biggest change over the past 12 months has been to Liverpool’s defence. They signed Virgil Van Dijk during the transfer window last season to bring experience quality and leadership to their back line, something they have always lacked. Something else they didn’t have was a genuine number one goalkeeper, a problem they addressed this summer with the signing of Alisson. Those two combined may not get the headlines as often as Liverpool’s front three, but they have been fantastic so far, and you could argue that Van Dijk in particular is the most important player in this Liverpool team right now.

What has been impressive so far from the Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool has been his ability to go out and address the problems his squad has. He is seemingly at the end of this now, and has created he squad of players that he wants at the club. If he is right, this is good enough to win a league title, and that could come as early as this season for them with the way they have started. There appears to be a swagger about Liverpool right now, they look the part and success in some way this season would come as no surprise based on what we have seen so far.

Liverpool vs Chelsea Betting Tips

We will see two completely different line ups in the two games that these two have over the four day period, so the first game will only have a little impact on the second one. However, it will give the winning team a little momentum boost going into the more important clash on Saturday. I think we will see Liverpool win both games during that period, and really show us that they are ready to stake a big claim for the league title this season.

Fringe players will feature for both on Wednesday, and with a few injuries in the Chelsea team, it looks as though the team put out by Liverpool will be slightly stronger than that of their rivals. That can be enough, along with home field advantage, for them to win this first game.

Neither team will have the Carabao Cup high on their list of priorities this season, but at the end of the day it is a trophy, and both would like to win one. As the competition moves into the latter stages we will see clubs play more competitive line ups, and take the competition more seriously.

Chelsea have started very well under new boss Maurizio Sarri but the trip to Anfield may be a step too far for them right now. They will improve as the season moves along, and perhaps they are showing the most right now in terms of who will finish third behind the front two, but they don’t look capable of challenging Liverpool or Manchester City.

Neither team will be too upset should they lose this one, and no where near as upset as they will be on Saturday if they lose the league game. I am backing Liverpool to come out on top here, they appear to have a little more based on the expected line ups that we are likely to see both teams field in this one.

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