Chelsea v Liverpool EFL Cup Final Preview and Tips
Chelsea v Liverpool Preview
We landed a decent winner with Joao Felix to score anytime vs Man Utd. As predicted, the referee was card happy but unfortunately, Vrsaljko escaped his wrath. This weekend the focus will be on Wembley for the EFL Cup Final. Chelsea v Liverpool kicks off at 16.30 and both teams will be eager to get some silverware. Can Tuchel come up with a plan to stop the rampant Reds? Or will Klopp’s side surge to victory? Check out our big match preview and betting tips below.
Chelsea
European and World Champions Chelsea will be looking to add another, slightly less illustrious, trophy to their cabinet on Sunday. The Blues have won this competition five times in their history, their last triumph coming in 2015. With their Premier League title challenge floundering, Tuchel will likely go all out for victory on Sunday. Ben Chilwell is their only definite absentee as Reece James is back fit and Ziyech and Kovacic should be able to shrug off knocks they in midweek.
The Blues beat Villa, Southampton, Brentford and Spurs to get to this final. They come into the match on the back of a six game winning streak with two of those victories coming at the Club World Cup. In midweek they beat Lille 2-0 in the Champions League while in their last Premier League outing a late Ziyech goal earned them all three points at Selhurst Park.
In the previous rounds of the Carabao Cup Tuchel has named strong line-ups. Kepa has started in every round and he will likely keep his place on Sunday. Mount and Jorginho played no part vs Lille so they could both come into the starting lineup. Lukaku was benched too for that match but judging from Tuchel’s comments before the Lille game, he could struggle to get back into the team.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp’s side have taken full advantage of a pretty kind fixture list in the last month or so. Since a 0-0 draw vs Arsenal in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final, they have won nine in a row. The Reds are back in the title race after EPL wins vs Brentford, Palace, Leicester, Burnley, Norwich and Leeds. The other three victories during this purple patch have come vs Arsenal (EFL Cup), Cardiff (FA Cup) and Inter in the Champions League.
Inter provided a tough-ish test but they couldn’t get a goal and Liverpool eventually won 2-0. They banged in six against a leaky Leeds team but Chelsea are unlikely to be as generous on Sunday. Liverpool beat Norwich, Preston, Leicester and Arsenal in previous rounds to reach this decider. Klopp did make changes in some of the early rounds but he, like Tuchel, will be keen to get some silverware after a trophyless season in 2020/21 so he’ll pick a strong team.
Caoimhin Kelleher is the only ‘reserve’ that is likely to play and while Alisson is a loss, the Irishman is a more than able deputy. Jota and Firmino are out with injuries but with new man Diaz available, along with Salah and Mane, Liverpool won’t be lacking in the attacking department. They are scoring lots of goals and winning games but as some of their recent opponents have shown, their high line can still be exploited.
Chelsea v Liverpool Possible Lineups
Chelsea: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Silva, Rudiger, Alonso, Jorginho, Kante, Pulisic, Mount, Havertz.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Thiago, Henderson, Diaz, Mane, Salah.
Chelsea v Liverpool Betting Tip
The bookies make Liverpool clear favourites at 2.35 to win this match in 90 minutes. The draw is 3.3 and Chelsea are priced up at 3.52. The Reds are 1.67 to lift the trophy and The Blues are 2.3. When these teams met at Stamford Bridge earlier this season it was a pulsating 2-2 draw. At Anfield, Chelsea were 1-0 up and looking good before a penalty and a Reece James red card changed the game. That too finished as a score draw (1-1).
Under Tuchel, Chelsea remain unbeaten in three games against Klopp’s Liverpool (W1 D2). Should Liverpool be such clear favourites? I am not too sure. They are clearly playing well but they have been up against cannon fodder for the most part recently and their performances against Norwich (first half), Inter (until the first goal) and Burnley were far from convincing.
Chelsea haven’t exactly been tearing it up either but given their recent record vs Liverpool, they look a shade overpriced at 3.5. However, considering how close the last couple of matches between these rivals have been, I think another score draw could be on the cards. Back the draw and both teams to score at 4.6 and I’m also having a small play on 2-2 in the correct score market at odds of 20.0.
