Brendan Rodgers has called on Liverpool to banish memories of their last home meeting with Chelsea and kickstart their season on Saturday.
Captain Steven Gerrard slipped as Demba Ba stole in to open the scoring at Anfield last term, with Jose Mourinho’s men going on to win 2-0 and dent Liverpool’s dreams of winning their first Barclays Premier League title.
The Merseysiders headed into that fixture in April top of the table and on the back of an incredible 11-match winning streak, but eventually lost out on the title to Manchester City by two points after succumbing to Chelsea and drawing their next match with Crystal Palace.
“When we play at Anfield, no matter the opponent, we have every confidence we can go on and get a result”
Brendan RodgersLiverpool’s form going into this season’s fixture at Anfield is in stark contrast to back then, though, as they sit 12 points behind unbeaten BPL leaders Chelsea after just 10 matches.
But Rodgers believes this meeting with Mourinho’s side could provide a springboard for the remainder of their season.
“This weekend’s game against Chelsea is obviously a big game,” he said. “We’ll have learnt from last season’s defeat to them, it’ll be tough though. They’re the best team in the league at the moment, that’s why they are top of the league.
“When we play at Anfield, no matter the opponent, we have every confidence we can go on and get a result. This game offers us a great chance at home to get a result and can kick-start the season for us.”
The match will unquestionably stir some bad memories for Gerrard, but Rodgers says his skipper deserves credit for the way he has recovered from his untimely slip at Anfield.
“I think Gerrard recovering mentally shows the magnificent response from him,” he continued. “There was no blame, [it was] just unfortunate.
“He was instrumental to our run last year and how well we played. He’s a big character and bounced back well from that.”
Chelsea, four points clear of Southampton at the top, were chasing Liverpool when the sides met in April, but with the roles reversed this time around, defender Branislav Ivanovic believes the change of circumstances will make for a completely different encounter.
“Last season was completely different from this one,” he remarked. “It was three games to go, they were fighting for the title and they wanted to win – they struggled in a must-win.
“Now we are top of the table. We know it’s difficult at Anfield, but also our team knows how to win there. We know what we have to do.”
Liverpool manager Rodgers has hinted he could ring the changes once again, with the likes of Gerrard and Raheem Sterling likely to return after being rested for the Reds’ 1-0 defeat by Real Madrid in their UEFA Champions League encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
“This isn’t a computer game,” he said. “We’re dealing with the reality of lots of games in a short space of time. We need to make changes.”
Daniel Sturridge (calf) remains sidelined for Rodgers’ side, while Chelsea’s Loic Remy (muscle) is likely to be missing and John Obi Mikel (knee) is a doubt.
Liverpool (from): Jones, Mignolet, Johnson, Jose Enrique, Lovren, Manquillo, Moreno, Skrtel, Toure, Allen, Can, Coutinho, Gerrard, Henderson, Lallana, Lucas, Markovic, Suso, Balotelli, Borini, Lambert, Sterling.
Chelsea (from): Cech, Courtois, Schwarzer, Ake, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Christensen, Filipe, Ivanovic, Terry, Zouma, Fabregas, Hazard, Matic, Mikel, Oscar, Ramires, Salah, Willian, Costa, Drogba, Remy, Schurrle.
Match Facts
Chelsea have netted four goals in the opening 15 minutes of matches this season, more than any other team in the Barclays Premier League.
Liverpool have finished in the top four on the three previous occasions that they have had exactly 14 points after 10 matches.
source: premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 