Five key battles to watch during Chelsea vs. Liverpool
Chelsea vs. Liverpool will be won or lost by all the smaller skirmishes and match-ups on the pitch. Pride of London’s Andre Carlisle and Dan Mcclue break down the five critical battles that Chelsea will need to win to notch the victory.
.Chelsea has a difficult, somewhat confusing opponent ahead of them on Friday at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool has pace, aggressiveness and Heavy. Metal. Football. (or so we’ve been told). They also lost 2-0 to Burnley and drew to Spurs.
Since Liverpool resolved its internal conflict between Steven Gerrard and staying on his feet, here are the most important battles that will determine Chelsea’s result against the Reds.
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Diego Costa the striker vs. Diego Costa the wannabe midfielder
Liverpool play frantic football, pressing relentlessly and all over the pitch. Heatmaps of their matches look like staring at a wildfire through thermal goggles. If Chelsea are to exploit the gaps in this crazed brand of football they’re going to need to rely on one another. In football sense, that means near-telepathic positioning.
In Chelsea’s past matches Diego Costa has done a cheap impersonation of a midfielder. The Spanish striker picks up the ball by the centre circle and attempts 30-yard runs beyond three defenders. It never comes close to working, but Costa is rarely so easily convinced.
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Costa must trade-in his fruitless marauding runs in favor of more traditional holdup play. Since Liverpool will be pressing hard, Chelsea’s players won’t have time to lift their heads and scan the pitch to locate Costa. He will need to be where they expect him – a striker – to be: between the centre-backs, with his back to goal.
Allowing Chelsea’s midfielders to make runs through a porous Liverpool defense will make Costa’s job easier and put centre-backs Joel Matip and Lucas Leiva on the back foot – a place not unfamiliar to either. Though Liverpool have lost just one Premier League match, they’ve given up seven goals in their first four Premier League fixtures. Last season, Chelsea conceded just two more in their dismal run.
Chelsea must approach the match with the intent to not only frustrate Liverpool, but to give them plenty to worry about on the other end of the pitch. This all starts with Costa being a central target where his teammates expect him to be.
N’Golo Kante vs. Philippe Coutinho
Liverpool’s star man is undoubtedly the Brazilian magician. Coutinho has got off to a flying start this season, with 2 goals in 3 starts, albeit both goals coming in their first match against Arsenal.
Operating behind the striker, Coutinho is usually given a free roam, occasionally drifting out to the wings. Coutinho has attempted 4.3 shots per game this season.
N’Golo Kante will be charged with shutting down this threat. Kante has been sensational for Chelsea, doing everything as advertised before his move from Leicester City. The Frenchman has made 3.3 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game. With Chelsea’s already thin backline now lacking their captain, he will need to maintain his good form.
Kante has a pass success rate of 94.5%, so look for him buzzing around Coutinho seeking opportunities to spring a counter. Coutinho will try to start his runs on the left flank. There he will face Branislav Ivanovic, who will *clearly* (ahem) win that duel.
It will be up to Kante to help the Serb on his right and close Coutinho down quickly.
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 27: Eden Hazard of Chelsea celebrates scoring his sides first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Burnley at Stamford Bridge on August 27, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Eden Hazard vs. Nathaniel Clyne
Chelsea fans are thrilled to see how well Hazard has started the season. As he goes, so do the Blues, so they will need him to continue to push forwards.
The Belgian has attempted 5 dribbles per game and gets fouled at least 3 times each game this season. With 2.5 key passes per game, his link up play with Cesar Azpilicueta and Diego Costa down the left flank will be vital.
Hazard has a tendency to start labouring once Chelsea go up a goal or two. In a match against Liverpool this can not happen. Whether it’s a lack of stamina, or merely complacency, Hazard needs to keep his energy levels high. Once he drops off the boil, so do the rest of the team.
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Liverpool will task England right-back Nathaniel Clyne with stopping the Belgian. An attacking full-back, Clyne has one assist this season. While he has the pace to keep up with Hazard, his defending is lacking. He attempts 2.5 tackles per game, giving up 0.8 fouls and is dribbled past 0.8 times per game.
Up until now Clyne has faced off against average wingers (Alex Iwobi was on the left when he played Arsenal). Hazard is a significant step up, and although Clyne was very impressive against Chelsea last season, look for Hazard to make the most in behind Clyne’s naturally attacking nature.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MARCH 12: John Terry (R) and Gary Cahill (L) of Chelsea leave the pitch after his team’s 0-2 defeat in the Emirates FA Cup sixth round match between Everton and Chelsea at Goodison Park on March 12, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
Liverpool’s pace vs. Chelsea’s entire defence
If you’re a person who likes to witness favorable things happen to Chelsea FC, you’ve no doubt already had nightmares of Sadio Mané, Philippe Coutinho, and/or Daniel Sturridge blowing by any of our centre-backs.
Chelsea’s slowest defender – John Terry – will miss the match. His replacement David Luiz has better speed, but not enough to compensate for his tendency to get caught up the pitch.
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This leaves Gary Cahill standing between the marauding Reds and Chelsea’s goal. Missed foul call or not, we know how well he’ll deal with the situation. This is a valid fear.
N’Golo Kanté can be everywhere figuratively but not literally. The centre-back partnership is going to have to remain cohesive enough to prevent Liverpool players getting beyond them without a raised offside flag. This is not a good position to be in at all, which is precisely why Chelsea should avoid it. Luiz’s near-certain inclusion upgrades the defence in terms of pace, but the Blues should not rely on that element.
Luiz’s skill on the ball should benefit Chelsea the most. If Chelsea simply cannot cope with Liverpool’s pace, the only way to neuter it is to keep the ball away from them. This requires competent and capable players receiving the ball in all areas of the pitch.
Using Luiz as another safe place to circulate the ball through not only keeps it away from Liverpool, but gives them another chunk of the pitch to extend their press. This will open gaps in front of an already horrid Liverpool defence and (eventually) wear down Liverpool’s legs in midfield.
To a man, Chelsea’s back line is outpaced by any member of Liverpool’s thunderbolt attack. Expecting the defense to stand strong and repel each wave is a thing of the past. Antonio Conte knows this, but also knows his squad’s limitations. If you frequently see red blurs streaking toward a Gary Cahill stuck in reverse or a bobbing head full of luscious curls, something went very wrong.
COBHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 31: David Luiz is unveiled as Chelsea’s new signing at Chelsea Training Ground on August 31, 2016 in Cobham, England. (Photo by Chelsea Football Club/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
David Luiz vs. the world
It’s happening! Everybody stay calm!
He’s back and with it comes every feeling we’ve ever felt while he’s been on the pitch. The joy of seeing the wonder-goals and the clenched buttocks of seeing him sprint 30 yards out of defence to make an interception.
With John Terry’s injury, Luiz will get his second debut for the Blues. His last game this season was an appalling performance against Monaco. He gave away a penalty before being substituted off. Just in case you were relaxed.
Luiz has a universally-known (mocked?) tendency to bomb forwards with the ball, and isn’t as stout in defence as the current options. Chelsea bought him to be a springboard forwards from the back line. While this may suit him more with three centre-backs, as long as he is “relatively” secure with the ball that’s all Conte will ask.
Last season Luiz had a 92.1% pass success rate in Ligue 1 for a team that likes to pass out from defence. With an average of 2.4 interceptions, 0.8 fouls and dribbled past 0.6 times per game over the 2015/16 season, he has matured into a decent defensive player.
Against Liverpool, Kante will be asked (forced) to sit deeper. Luiz has never had a player like the Frenchman covering for him. Of course, he needs to keep his errors in check but against a team like Liverpool, Chelsea will need as many players capable of playing killer passes as possible.
David Luiz’s passing will be more crucial if Cesc Fabregas does not play. The Reds have an awful lot of pace in attack. Apart from the still-recovering Kurt Zouma, Luiz is the only defensive option with a semblance of speed.
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