Kick-off: 1630, 20/09/2020
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
TV: Sky Sports
Chelsea will be one of Liverpool’s strongest title challengers, according to the outright winner betting, so Sunday’s Stamford Bridge showdown will be an important early test for both teams.
The Reds made a successful start to their title defence but were made to work hard for a 4-3 win at home to Leeds, while Chelsea enjoyed a 3-1 victory at Brighton – as did punters who backed any of our three winning tips!
With so much attacking talent on show and both teams suffering defensive lapses, we’re backing over 3.5 goals at 3/2 as our opening Chelsea vs Liverpool prediction.
A Look At Chelsea’s Betting Odds
Chelsea’s transfer business this summer has raised hopes at Stamford Bridge that they can get much closer to Liverpool this time around, having finished 33 points behind the champions last season.
Of the top eight, only Wolves scored fewer home goals than Frank Lampard’s men but the arrivals of Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz should go a long way to solving that problem.
Havertz and Werner both started at Brighton and although the latter failed to open his goal account, the Germany striker impressed and won the penalty which allowed Jorginho to give Chelsea the lead.
Lampard said: “I was really pleased with Timo, with Timo I know the qualities he’s going to bring to the team.
“We saw that with the speed to win the penalty and the moments where he showed his speed and his qualities as well.
“He’s going to be a real threat, he’s a very mobile centre forward who can do so many things for us.”
It is in defence where it is less obvious whether Chelsea have improved sufficiently, especially with their summer arrivals not yet ready to feature.
Chelsea were 3-1 down by half-time in July when they lost 5-3 at Anfield and both teams to score in the first half once more appeals at 13/5 in the Chelsea vs Liverpool odds.
Last Chelsea line-up: Kepa, Alonso, Christensen, Zouma, James, Jorginho, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Mount, Havertz, Werner.
A Look At Liverpool’s Betting Odds
Mo Salah’s hat-trick helped to ensure Liverpool did not pay the price for a poor defensive display in their season opener.
Leeds battled back to equalise three times at Anfield before Salah’s third late on eventually ensured a winning start for the Reds.
Manager Jurgen Klopp was satisfied with the performance, saying: “I didn’t see us struggling defensively but the way they play you cannot defend 100 per cent of the time.
“For the first goal both full-backs were deeper than the centre-halves and that should never happen in football. The second goal was a misunderstanding between Virgil (Van Dijk) and Ali (Alisson Becker) and I don’t think we will see these situations very often.
“The third one we changed Hendo (Jordan Henderson) not long before and our formation was moving and we didn’t close one gap.
“The back line played for England, Holland and Scotland four days ago – all top teams but different ways of defending.
“And if things are not settled early in pre-season, defending is not riding a bike – so there is space for improvement.”
That backs up our belief that another entertaining game is on the cards so let’s take a chance on a 2-2 draw at 23/2 as our final Chelsea vs Liverpool prediction.
Last Liverpool line-up: Alisson, Van Dijk, Gomez, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, Wijnaldum, Keita, Henderson, Firmino, Mane, Salah.
Additional stats
Last result:
Brighton 1-3 CHELSEA – Jorginho (pen), Reece James, Kurt Zouma
LIVERPOOL 4-3 Leeds – Mo Salah (3), Virgin Van Dijk
Head-to-head: Liverpool 5-3 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool, Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool, Liverpool 2-2 Chelsea, Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea, Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool, Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
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