Six Premier League defeats in a row. Chelsea just lost 3-1 at home to a Nottingham Forest side resting half their starters. Joao Pedro scored a 93rd-minute consolation in front of a stadium that was barely full. That is where this Chelsea season has arrived.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are fourth, chasing Champions League qualification, and coming off a gut-punch 3-2 loss at Old Trafford where Kobbie Mainoo scored a winner thirteen minutes from time to kill a comeback that had briefly made Anfield dare to dream. Slot's side had been two goals down, clawed it back to 2-2, and then conceded again. The story of their season in one game.
So here we are. Saturday morning at Anfield. Liverpool need the points for Champions League football. Chelsea need them to avoid becoming a punchline. One team has won seven of their last ten home games. The other has not won a single Premier League match in six attempts.
This should not be complicated.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Key Stats
Liverpool: 4th with 58 points, six clear of Bournemouth in sixth
Liverpool: Won 7 of their last 10 home Premier League games, lost just 2
Liverpool: 10 points from the last 12 available in home Premier League fixtures
Liverpool: Won their last 2 meetings with Chelsea at Anfield
Chelsea: Have not won at Anfield in the Premier League since November 2014 in front of supporters
Chelsea: Lost 6 consecutive Premier League games, the worst run of any club in the division
Chelsea: Won just 2 of their last 10 Premier League games overall
Chelsea: 9th in the table, 10 points behind Villa with three games left
Mohamed Salah: Definitely out with a thigh injury
Alexander Isak: Doubtful with a groin problem
Florian Wirtz: Doubt after missing training
Photo Credit (Getty Images)
What to Expect
Liverpool have injury problems and Slot knows it. Salah is out. Isak is a doubt. Wirtz missed training. The front line that has made Anfield so uncomfortable for visiting teams all season is suddenly patchy and Slot may have to trust Rio Ngumoha, a teenager, to provide the width and spark that Salah and Wirtz usually supply. Gakpo leads the line if Isak cannot go. Szoboszlai drives from midfield. Frimpong attacks relentlessly from right back. Liverpool are not at full strength but they are at home, they need this result, and the Anfield crowd on a title-chasing Saturday morning provides an energy that covers a lot of individual shortcomings.
Chelsea have nothing working. Neto and Garnacho are both injured. Gittens and Estevao are both out. Mudryk is suspended. Sanchez got injured in the Forest game so Jorgensen starts in goal. The attack essentially comes down to Cole Palmer creating and Joao Pedro finishing, with Enzo Fernandez trying to link everything together in between. Palmer is the one player in this squad who turns up regardless of circumstances. But even he cannot carry a team that has won twice in ten league games and whose defensive structure has conceded in every single one of its last six Premier League matches.
Predicted Lineups
Liverpool (4-3-3)
Woodman; Jones, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Szoboszlai; Frimpong, Wirtz, Ngumoha; Gakpo
Chelsea (4-2-3-1)
Jorgensen; James, Colwill, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo, Lavia; Fernandez; Pedro, Delap
Players to Watch
Cody Gakpo - If Isak cannot start, Gakpo carries Liverpool's goalscoring burden. He has been inconsistent this season but has scored in two of his last three home league appearances. On a morning where Liverpool need someone to step into the space Salah and Isak normally occupy, he is the one Slot trusts most.
Rio Ngumoha - Seventeen years old and potentially starting at Anfield with Champions League qualification on the line. That sentence alone tells you how stretched Liverpool's attacking options are. He was excellent for seven minutes against United before the pressure of the game got to him. A full 90 minutes is a different assignment entirely.
Cole Palmer - The only Chelsea player still playing at his level. Nine Premier League goals, the creative heart of everything McFarlane tries to build going forward, and a player who does not seem to notice when the team around him is struggling. If Chelsea score at Anfield, it comes through him.
Liam Delap - Leads the line for Chelsea and needs a big performance to justify his place in this squad going into the summer. He is physical, direct, and gives Liverpool's centre backs a different problem to the ones Gakpo and Ngumoha create. One moment of hold-up play, one flick into Palmer's path, could be Chelsea's best route to a goal.
Prediction
Liverpool to win: TBD
Chelsea to win: TBD
Draw: TBD
Over 2.5 Goals: TBD
Prediction: Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea
Liverpool win this. The home record, the motivation, the gulf in current form. Chelsea have not won at Anfield in front of supporters since 2014. Liverpool have won their last two home meetings with the Blues. The injury concerns are real but Chelsea are walking in with six straight defeats and an attack missing most of its best players. Gakpo scores. Palmer keeps Chelsea in it briefly. Liverpool find a winner before the hour mark and seal the Champions League spot their season has been building towards. Chelsea finish ninth and spend the summer wondering where it all went so badly wrong.