Chelsea will be desperate for three points on Saturday when they face an out-of-form Liverpool in the Premier League.
The trip north follows a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace for Chelsea, with Kai Havertz scoring the only goal in the perfect confidence boost before the clash with Liverpool. It’s been a tough season for the Blues, but Graham Potter will be hoping some of his five new signings can help continue their winning form.
Last season saw four meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool, with all four ending in draws over 90 minutes. Two of them came in domestic cup finals, with the Blues losing on penalties in both the FA and Carabao Cup.
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So, could the Blues end their run of draws against Liverpool on Saturday? Let's take a look.
Liverpool vs Chelsea score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions. Recent form impacts players' ratings in FIFA 23, so the Blues squad was lower-rated than usual heading into this simulation.
We predict that Liverpool could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Matip, Robertson; Bajcetic, Fabinho, Thiago; Salah, Nunez, Elliott.
We predict that the Blues could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kepa; Chalobah, Silva, Badiashile, Hall; Gallagher, Kovacic, Jorginho; Ziyech, Havertz, Mount.
Chelsea got off to an awful start at Anfield when they went a goal down inside seven minutes, with Kepa clearing the ball into the path of Darwin Nunez who slipped in Mohamed Salah to tap home. But, 29 minutes in, the Blues levelled the score through Hakim Ziyech.
A one-two between Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher sent the former down the line, and the defender sent a drilled cross towards Mason Mount in the box. The midfielder took on his shot first time and sliced it horribly wide of goal, but Ziyech was alert and slid in at the far post to tap in from close range.
Liverpool regained the lead when Darwin Nunez tapped into an empty goal following a smart piece of play from Cody Gakpo to draw Kepa off his line, and the Uruguayan then doubled the Reds' lead in the 64th minute when he headed Stefan Bajcetic's cross into the net. It was looking to become a miserable afternoon for Chelsea, but substitute Mykhalio Mudryk made an instant impact off the bench to pull a goal back in the 74th minute.
On the counterattack, Kai Havertz threaded a pass through to Mudryk at the back post, and the forward cut across Trent Alexander-Arnold to latch onto the ball and charge towards goal. One-on-one with Alisson, the Ukrainian spotted the 'keeper surge off his line and smartly dinked the ball over the Brazilian's head and under the bar to make it 3-2.
All of a sudden, the Blues were dominant, and they came close to an equaliser when Chalobah had a long-range effort tipped onto the post by Alisson moments after Mudryk's strike. The Blues eventually levelled the score when Havertz nodded home in the 84th minute.
Mudryk found the German with a through ball after he peeled off the shoulder of Joel Matip, but his original shot was smothered by Alisson from a tight angle. A stroke of fortune saw the ball bounce back up into the air, and Havertz leapt back to his feet to head the ball over the line and send the away end into a frenzy.
FIFA 23 predicted score: Liverpool 3-3 Chelsea
Here are the full-time match stats:
FIFA 23 predicts that Chelsea could show great character against Liverpool on Saturday, with the Blues coming from two goals behind to claim a point in the simulation. Defensively, Potter's side were very poor, but the introduction of Mudryk off the bench changed the game, with the forward scoring and assisting.
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