Liverpool vs Chelsea: Premier League preview, team news, TV channel, stats, prediction, kick-off time

Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Liverpool vs Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday Night Football; kick-off 5.30pm.

Team news

Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson is hoping to make his first appearance of the season against Chelsea.

The Scotland left back was an unused substitute in last week's home win against Burnley after recovering from an ankle injury and Jurgen Klopp must decide if he starts in place of Kostas Tsimikas.

Fabinho is back from compassionate leave following the death of his father and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in contention after the birth of his first child. James Milner (knock) will miss out.

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Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic will be a doubt for the trip to Anfield after his positive Covid-19 test.

The USA forward missed Sunday's 2-0 win at Arsenal due to self-isolation, but has not suffered any symptoms after testing positive.

Pulisic might not be back in training with enough time to be ready to feature, while Kurt Zouma will not be available amid a possible switch to West Ham and also personal issues that required him to return to France this week.

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How to follow

Live: SNF

Liverpool vs Chelsea is live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm; kick-off 5.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Last time out...

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Prediction: Jones Knows writes...

A proper game. Two legitimate title contenders going at it - who will lay down an early marker? That is a stupendously tough question as I've got these two almost identically matched. You could play this game 10 times at a neutral venue and there's a strong chance we'd see five wins apiece.

I would slightly favour Liverpool with the Anfield crowd but the odds mirror that with Jurgen Klopp's men slight favourites at 29/20 with Sky Bet and the away win a 15/8 chance with Sky Bet. Liverpool have won four of the last five Premier Leagues meetings between the two but the one Thomas Tuchel was in charge of, Chelsea won 1-0 last season. But then Tuchel has lost more games vs Klopp than against any other manager. As you can tell I'm going around the houses with this one. I have no angle in for the match outcome.

Instead, I'll be playing the cards market.

• Klopp on the rise of 'sensational' Tuchel
• Liverpool vs Chelsea: Best PL moments

The fact this is an early-season clash between two title rivals does open the possibility of a somewhat cagey encounter if the scores are level at 60 minutes. A point is a perfectly acceptable result for both. That could lead to a low foul count involving two teams that rank low for yellow cards anyway. In the period since Thomas Tuchel took charge, Chelsea rank 16th for yellow cards and Liverpool 18th. Also, this fixture produced zero cards last season. With referees seemingly happy to let the game flow more this campaign, Anthony Taylor may want to reinforce that point in what is the highest-profile Premier League game so far. I like the look of the game to produce two or fewer cards at 6/4 with Sky Bet.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1

BETTING ANGLE: Under 30 bookings points (6/4 with Sky Bet)

Opta stats

• Liverpool have lost just two of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Chelsea (W6 D5), though one of those defeats was in the most recent such game in March.
• Only Manchester United (12) have won more Premier League away games against Liverpool than Chelsea (7), with the Blues winning this exact fixture 1-0 last season.
• The home side didn't lose any of the first 22 Premier League meetings between Liverpool and Chelsea, winning 17 and drawing five. Since then, the home team has won just a further 12 of their 36 such meetings, with the away side winning 15 times in that time.
• Both Liverpool and Chelsea have started the 2021-22 campaign with two wins, two clean sheets and five goals scored. Liverpool have started a top-flight campaign with three wins without conceding twice before (2013-14 and 2018-19), while Chelsea have done so three times (2004-05, 2005-06 and 2010-11).
• Liverpool have fired in the most shots so far in the Premier League this season (46), and have the joint-second highest xG along with Man City (4.3). Meanwhile, Chelsea have faced the fewest shots in their two games (10), and have the lowest xG against (0.6).
• Liverpool have won their last seven Premier League games, winning each of the last four without conceding and while scoring at least twice. On just three occasions has a team won 5+ Premier League games in a row to nil while scoring 2+ goals each time - Chelsea in August 2010 (6), Chelsea in November 2016 (5) and Manchester City in August 2015 (5).
• After losing just one of his first 13 managerial meetings with Chelsea's Thomas Tuchel in all competitions (W9 D3), Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has lost his last two against his compatriot. Only against three managers has Klopp ever lost 3+ consecutive meetings in his managerial career - Felix Magath (twice, in 2006 and 2010), Thomas Doll (2006) and Thomas Schaaf (2007).
• Diogo Jota has scored in both of Liverpool's Premier League games so far this season, and could become the fourth player to score in each of the Reds' first three games to a Premier League campaign after Robbie Fowler (1994-95), Daniel Sturridge (2013-14) and Sadio Mané (2017-18).
• After netting four goals in his first four Premier League appearances against Liverpool, Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku has scored in just one of his last 11 against the Reds.
• In all competitions, Liverpool's Sadio Mané has netted seven goals in 17 appearances against Chelsea, with the Senegalese only netting more against Crystal Palace (12) and Aston Villa (8) during his time in England.

Essential Football Podcast: Jamie Redknapp on Liverpool vs Chelsea and Harry Kane's golf skills! | Plus: Man Utd on the brink of a record

Liverpool and Chelsea go head-to-head at Anfield live on Sky Sports on Saturday night and Jamie Redknapp joins Peter Smith on the Essential Football Podcast to preview the big clash between two Premier League title hopefuls.

PART 1: It's Virgil Van Dijk vs Romelu Lukaku at Anfield this weekend - but who will come out on top? Jamie Redknapp gives his verdict. Plus, the Sky Sports pundit reflects on Harry Kane staying at Spurs - and reveals what the striker is like on the golf course!

PART 2: Sky Sports Football journalist Charlotte Marsh takes a look at a new role for Adama Traore for a Wolves side who have managed 42 shots but 0 goals in their first two Premier League games, and we dissect Man Utd's remarkable run of results away from home.

PART 3: We preview Leeds' trip to Burnley and Data Editor Adam Smith names the statistically best-performing English players across Europe from the opening rounds - with several surprise names in the side!

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