Kick-off: 1630, 13/08/2023
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
TV: Sky Sports
Chelsea and Liverpool spent the week battling for the signature of Moises Caicedo and now meet on the pitch in the pick of the opening round of Premier League fixtures.
Both teams will be hoping to make a quick start as they look to make amends for dismal campaigns last season and Chelsea have a new man in charge in Mauricio Pochettino.
We suspect both Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp would settle for a point from a tricky opener and their last six meetings in all competitions have been drawn, so the same outcome is our first Chelsea vs Liverpool prediction at 13/5.
Slow burner at Stamford Bridge
It has been another busy summer at Chelsea but there have been more outgoings than incomings as the club look to cut the squad and the wage bill to a more reasonable size.
Pochettino is hoping to succeed where Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard all failed last season but patience may be needed by the Blues’ faithful.
There are plenty of problems to solve, most notably up front where £52million summer signing Christopher Nkunku is missing after suffering a knee injury during pre-season which could see him sidelined until December.
Chelsea only let four more goals in than Arsenal last season though and Pochettino knows how to organise a defence, so they should be hard to break down.
With both teams potentially taking a while to find their feet and the last four meetings ending 0-0, a goalless first half appeals at 9/4 in the Chelsea vs Liverpool odds.
Salah can burst out of blocks again
Liverpool’s main mission this summer was to rebuild the midfield and they should be a more energetic team following some useful signings.
Alexis Mac Allister shone for Brighton last season and was ranked in the top three for shots at goal by midfielders, while Dominik Szoboszlai has taken the number eight shirt worn by one of his heroes, Steven Gerrard, after coming in from RB Leipzig.
They should boost Liverpool’s creativity but the Reds will still look mainly to Mo Salah for goals and his record in the opening round of matches is impressive, scoring in the first game in each of the last six seasons, with eight goals in total.
Salah to score first looks worth adding to our Chelsea vs Liverpool betting tips at 5/1, while Salah to open the scoring in a 1-1 draw is available as a scorecast at 40/1.
Additional stats
Head-to-head record: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool, Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea, Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool, Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool, Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool, Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
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