Pre and In Match Thread. Liverpool vs Chelsea. EPL. Sat 28th Aug. 1730 hrs

We are going to inflict another morale crushing 4-3 win over Tuchel just like the last time we played Dortmund when he was in charge.

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Isn’t it nice when the team gets a whole week between games. :heart_eyes:

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And we get a whole week to squabble about formations and tactics

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Can’t wait to hear the the Chavs sing the ‘Steve Gerrard’ song again.

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Massive step up of course, just hope Fabinho is available for this one, given his loss.

On paper our best midfield is Thiago-Fabinho-Henderson.

I’m just not 100% sure any of them will start, but I suspect Klopp is thinking hard about whether he can start all of them.

I hope Klopp thinks about the opposition we are facing as well and puts Millie in the midfield.

I think we’ll see a midfield of Fab, Hendo and Naby. Naby’s been doing well and whilst he’s fit he plays. The midfield will have a job on their hands dealing with Chelsea’s wingbacks, esp when Trent and Robbo/Tsimikas get forward, but we need someone like Naby to give us the attacking edge in terms of dribbling/carrying the ball.

Matip and Virgil to start at CB - they are our strongest pairing (imo). Up top, I suspect we see Bobby in for Jota - which suits me, keep Jota for coming off the bench and being the game changer.

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Thiago looked off the pace at the weekend so I would stick with Naby, hopefully Fabinho will be back and the captain in midfield same back 5 and front three.

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I commented on a post by @Walshy07 regarding Thiago last Saturday.
He was on the pitch for 9 minutes.
How any reasonable assessment can be made in that time is beyond me.
If he plays on Saturday he will be at his best. Harsh on Naby to drop him but in these games ut has to be best available eleven.

9 minutes is quite enough to assess a player for those 9 minutes. Thiago looked like Lucas coming on and doing his best to give away free kicks on the edge of the box for the opposition.

This is the same player though who played probably the best 45 minutes we’ve seen from a player on his debut.

Thinking he was crap for 9 minutes in a match doesn’t mean he is crap or will be crap when he plays next. But it does mean he was crap for those 9 minutes.

But if he’s still in a fitness gaining stage, no point throwing him in against Chelsea unless Fab is unavailable.

All very fine. But he wasn’t crap on Saturday. He wasn’t his usual standard, but to compare him with Lucas is stretching it.

Questions for you
What is our best midfield 3?
And do you play your best against title rivals?

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I expect Fabinho, Naby, and Henderson to start this one. The Firmino/Jota choice is an interesting one. It’d be tough to drop Jota to the bench after scoring in first two games, but Firmino has had some nice cameos from bench. I’d stick with Jota I think. Nice to have options for mid/attack.

If Robertson is fit, stick him in, otherwise back 4 unchanged.

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  1. I don’t know but it contains Fabinho
  2. Yes If they are all fit and mentally/emotionally ready

But I don’t know if Fab will play yet, and I don’t know if Thiago has not started because of fitness is he now fit? If not and Fab is available I’d rather see Hendo and Naby.

Thiago was ok. Not his usual standard, but to call him crap is way over the top. Did good things and a couple of bad things.

I think the possible selection dilemmas are him vs Keita and Firmino vs Jota. Keita has done enough to stay in the team and is in good rhythm to use a Klopp-ism, so at the moment I think maybe I’m edging towards him, Fabinho and Henderson if I’m guessing the starters. But I’m far from sure.

Robertson was on the bench vs Burnley so should be back in the team. Tsimikas was really good in that game, and hasn’t done anything that deserves getting dropped, but Robertson is first choice and I think Klopp wants him in for this one.

For the striker position I’m not quite sure what the thinking could be. Jota is 2 in 2 and has that ability to be in the right spot at the right time. In a game where chances could be few, maybe that’s seen as more important than Firmino’s allround contribution…? Would love to know the thought process here.

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:thinking:

Not sure what you’re failing to understand?

That really is the last thing you need against Chelsea as they will just hack you down 40 metres out. :wink:

Nevermind.

He may have been on only 9 minutes but he gave away the ball away twice in dangerous areas and if not for Alisson and VVD they might have scored. He not up to speed yet which is fine we have won 2 without him so no need to risk it.

Id go same team as last week.

Gonna miss the game (sat night games suck) as Im at a Sausage and Cider festival. Last 2 games I missed because of this we won so hopefully its a good omen!

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