Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
What a difference a month makes, before Sadio Mane left for AFCON duty Liverpool were doing their best job to at least make sure there was some semblance of a title race.
A 2-2 draw in Mane’s final game against Sunderland may have perhaps been the warning signs for what was to come but no-one really thought things were to be as bad as they have been.
Its now just 1 win in 8 matches for Liverpool, with that victory coming over League Two’s Plymouth at the second attempt to see them progress into the Fourth Round of the F.A. Cup.
But that is far as their progress would go as they were dumped out of the competition by Wolves last Saturday Lunchtime, a defeat which has just added to Jurgen Klopp’s woes as of late.
Dumped out both domestic cup competiions and defeat to Swansea in the League, all in front of their own fans and all in the short space of just a week.
Where has it all gone wrong for Liverpool. Many point the fact that Sadio Mane has been absent in all of these but surely it cannot be all down to him.
Many feel that the pace that Liverpool were playing at during the first of the half of the season cannot be sustained and they do not perhaps have the squad depth in which to manage a title tilt.
Perhaps there plight has been made slightly easier by the fact that they now only have 1 competition left to participate in after a double cup upset but a fourth successive home defeat would surely end any hopes of a first title in 27 years.
Defeat could also diminish their hopes of a top four 4 place especially with both Manchester clubs currently on the outside looking in, so perhaps the visit of Chelsea comes at the worst possible time for Liverpool.
While Liverpool were getting dumped out of the cup, Chelsea were making easy work of Brentford at Stamford Bridge. They cruised to a 4-0 win in this West London derby and that win continues the momentum going into this game.
In the last round of Premier League action, Chelsea had the perfect combination of results. A win for them over Hull coupled with Liverpool’s loss and Manchester City and Tottenham taking points of each other meant that Antonio Conte’s men now sit 8 points clear at the top of the table.
The next two games for Chelsea will prove difficult hurdles with Liverpool tonight and then Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime, should they clear those unscathed then you do have to wonder if anyone will be able to get close to this all conquering blue machine.
Chelsea will not only come into this game on a wave of winning momentum but also relatively refreshed as Conte was afforded the opportunity to make a number of changes for the win over Brentford at the weekend.
Diego Costa’s transfer saga is now well behind him, the Spanish international is not only back in the team but back among the goals. It was his opener that broke down a resolute Hull in first half injury time 9 days ago.
From that point onwards Hull had nothing to offer in return and Chelsea secured the win late on thanks to a Gary Cahill effort to make it 2-0 and wrap up a perfect weekend.
Can Chelsea make the gap from Liverpool an unlucky 13 by the end of the night. Well they are certainly the form team going into this match and will look to take advnantage of an out of sorts Liverpool.
Conversely though could this high stakes get a performance from Jurgen Klopp’s men. He is going to need one if they are season is not to completly fall away by the end of January,
The last time these two sides met it was a 2-1 win for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge but since then Chelsea have been a different animal and I have a feeling that they will exact revenge for that defeat earlier in the season.
I think this one is going to go with the formbook and Chelsea will nick this one, perhaps overturning the Stamford Bridge defeat by the same scoreline. I reckon Liverpool’s title challenge is finally ended as Chelsea run out winners. An away win for me.
