Liverpool v Chelsea Tips January 21

Not that long ago Chelsea were Champions League heroes while Liverpool were celebrating after winning the Premier League – but things aren’t going to plan this season.

Both sides will face off at Anfield on Saturday, and a win for either could prove to be a huge boost after what’s been a pretty torrid spell by their own high standards.

Chelsea rank just 15th in the form chart with two wins over the last ten games, while the Reds have lost back-to-back matches against Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion and conceded three each time.

Jurgen Klopp’s side has won less than half of their league games (five from 13) going back to the start of September and they haven’t kept a clean sheet since October.

Graham Potter: has earned the respect of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp

The German manager was keen to point out that he isn’t underestimating Chelsea manager Graham Potter in his programme notes for his 1,000th game as a manager. “His work speaks for itself and should be judged over years and not weeks. I will certainly not make the mistake that others on the outside are making by thinking the way it has been for Chelsea recently will not change any time soon.

“I’m expecting them to show their best face, so it makes sense that we should show ours.”

History favours the Reds

These two sides have met plenty of times in recent years - they have battled it out on the continent, in the Premier League, and in both domestic cup competitions.

A glance at the head-to-head match-ups tells you that one team has had the better of this tie - Liverpool have won seven of their 11 meetings since 2019. However, the last two wins required a penalty shootout to settle matters.

Backing draws is always risky, but the four last meetings between these two have ended level after 90 minutes – and there has been no goals in the last 240 minutes. If you believe there will be a stalemate once more you can back draw at 3.9, or 0-0 at 16.5.

Battling to keep the sheets clean

Chelsea have conceded in all bar six of their Premier League games this season, while Liverpool have an even worse defensive record with 25 goals allowed and just four clean sheets.

With those stats in mind and the considerable attacking threat from Chelsea and Liverpool, backing both teams to score (1.74) seems prudent, especially when you can slightly increase the odds (1.79) by including over 2.5 goals.

New arrivals

It’s the January transfer window and plenty is happening, so maybe there will be a dream debut for Chelsea’s new Ukrainian Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is available at 4.2 as an anytime goalscorer.

Klopp’s new forward, Cody Gakpo, is on offer at 2.66 to get off the mark at Anfield, but I fancy another relatively new signing in Darwin Nunez to net for the Reds.