Liverpool head to Chelsea looking to put their thrashing by Manchester City behind them and get their top four bid back on track.
Since Jurgen Klopp’s men destroyed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield last month, the Reds have lost three straight games, ending this season’s Champions League bid and putting their hopes of being in next term’s competition in serious jeopardy.
Saturday’s dire defeat at the Etihad means Liverpool arrive at Stamford Bridge in eighth place on the Premier League table. With 11 games remaining this term, they’re eight points adrift of fourth spot. Quite simply it’s not where Klopp or his side expect to be.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Monday, Klopp was typically honest about his position at Anfield, having seen his Anfield predecessor, Brendan Rodgers, and Graham Potter sacked at the weekend by Leicester and Chelsea respectively.
“I am aware of the fact I am sitting here because of the past, not because of what we did this season,” he admitted. “If it was my first season it would be slightly different, so that’s it.
“I know as well I am still here for what happened in the last few years, I don’t like the fact and pretty much I have to rely on that. Is it right or not? We will see that in the future.”
The German also admitted that he simply doesn’t know whether the club’s hierarchy are losing patience in him, or whether they feel that a change in the dugout may be required sooner than the expiration of his contract.
“Yes we have smart owners; they know about the situation, but to be 100 percent you had better ask them yourselves why that is the case,” he said.
“I think we all accept this is part of the business. It is a strange week, Conte was last week, Nagelsmann and now these two so the season gets to a decisive part and people are afraid of maybe not reaching their targets.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! What should be Liverpool's starting line-up against Chelsea? Comment below.
Given his status as one of world football’s undoubted elite coaches, Klopp doesn’t fear the sack - “I’m not afraid” - but he knows full well he needs to turn things around, starting in west London.
And with a number of issues around both form and fitness, he will ring the changes at Stamford Bridge - particularly with one eye on the weekend meeting with league leaders Arsenal. "There will be changes, definitely," he said on Monday.
That could mean both full-backs - Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson - making way for fresh legs, while Curtis Jones, who impressed on England Under-21 duty recently, could be handed a start in midfield.
Neither Thiago or Luis Diaz are ready to return just yet, despite having recently returned to training, but Darwin Nunez - injured during the international break and only used as a substitute at the weekend - could get the nod in attack.
Predicted Liverpool Starting XI: Alisson; Gomez, Konate, van Dijk, Tsimikas; Henderson, Fabinho, Jones; Salah, Jota, Nunez.
