Paul Merson believes the loser of tomorrow’s clash between Liverpool and Chelsea will be out of the race for the top four despite both sides being halfway through the campaign.
The Reds currently sit ninth in the Premier League table and ten points behind fourth-placed Newcastle, who sit in the bottom of the Champions League standings, while Graham Potter’s side are level on points with the champions. of the FA Cup, but behind them on goal difference.
Both sides have experienced inconsistent starts to the campaign but will be looking to pick up three points tomorrow to start the second half of their season on the right foot.
“Ninth place vs. 10th place, is this a great game? I will go as far as to say that whoever loses this game is completely out of the race for the top four in the Premier League,” the former Arsenal man told Sportskeeda (via The Sport Review). “This is a massive game. The team that wins this game could run in and really push for a spot in the top four.
“Liverpool were impressed by Brighton the other day. I mentioned that there was no way Brighton would lose that game, and that they deserved to win. The Liverpool players who played against Wolves will not play on Saturday. Mohamed Salah is not closing like he used to. They need to close again and win the ball up the field; they’re not doing it at all right now.
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“This is going to be an interesting match. Chelsea are injured and aren’t playing great football, but if they can get through the first 20 minutes they have a chance. Cody Gakpo has been struggling a bit so far – I don’t remember the players from the Netherlands who came in and tore him up in the Premier League in recent years. He’ll need time, and he may have to leave the team for a game or two.
“Liverpool have to hold on and win games until people like [Diogo] something and [Luis] Diaz are back. They need to regain their confidence and get going. There isn’t much going on between these two teams, and I think this game will end in a draw.”
Both teams have been heavily affected by injury this season, but there will still be plenty of quality on display tomorrow in L4.
Our win at Wolves earlier this week was exactly what we needed after our dismal loss to Brighton last weekend and Klopp will again be looking for a strong performance from his side.
Stefan Bajcetic, Naby Keita and Harvey Elliot were just some of the eight changes made for the clash with Julián Lopetegui’s men and they will believe their impressive performances should mean they keep their place in the starting XI for tomorrow.
We can understand why Merson could have gone for a draw, but we think with local support pushing the lads
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