Chelsea vs Liverpool: Lineups Revealed for a High-Stakes Premier League Showdown

Lineups Announced for Chelsea vs Liverpool

The Italian Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca and the Dutch Liverpool manager Arne Slot revealed the starting XIs for today’s Saturday showdown at Stamford Bridge, a marquee fixture in the seventh round of the Premier League.

Chelsea’s lineup featured the pairing of Alejandro Garnacho and Joao Pedro up front, while Estêvão started on the bench.

Liverpool’s XI saw the Georgian goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili lining up, with Alisson Becker out injured, and a front trio of Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Alexander Isak leading the attack.

Lineups by team:

Chelsea: Sanchez - Gusto - Achimbono - Badiachi - Kukureila - James - Caicedo - Neto - Enzo - Garnacho - Pedro

Liverpool: Mamardashvili - Van Dijk - Konaté - Kirkycz - Bradley - Soboslay - Mac Allister - Gravenberch - Gakpo - Salah - Isak

Liverpool sit top of the Premier League with 15 points, while Chelsea occupy ninth place on 8 points.

According to Opta, away games account for half of a team's season, making away dominance a key prerequisite for title contenders; Liverpool’s away form, however, has been a recurring concern lately.

The Reds opened the season strongly, recording seven consecutive wins across competitions, seizing the league lead by five points, and starting their Champions League campaign with a win, before advancing to the fourth round of the English League Cup.

But defeats to Crystal Palace (1-2) and Galatasaray (0-1) in Istanbul dashed that momentum and reshaped the narrative around Slot and his squad.

This marks only the second time Slot has endured back-to-back losses at Liverpool, following a March stretch when they were beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in Europe and Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.

Recent results have brought the away issue back into focus: Liverpool have lost five of their last eight away games, with only three wins, all secured by late goals, including wins over newly promoted Leicester City and Burnley.

The numbers clearly illustrate the decline: in the first 24 away games under Slot, Liverpool averaged 2.1 goals per match while conceding 1.04; in the last eight away games, that goal rate dropped to 1.4 and conceded rose to 1.8.

In addition, the quality of chances created per shot fell from 0.13 expected goals to 0.11, while the quality of chances allowed to opponents rose from 0.09 to 0.12; shooting conversion dropped from 13.4% to 7.9%, and opponents’ conversion rose to 14.4% from 9.5%.

Interestingly, Liverpool’s average possession away from home rose from 55.7% to 64.8%, yet this did not translate into results; they appeared unable to break down opponents who parked the bus. A telling example came last season against Chelsea, when Liverpool enjoyed roughly 65% possession but lost 3-1.

Since the start of 2025, the balance has shifted. While Liverpool closed 2024 with an away record of 12 wins and two draws in 14 matches, the more recent months reveal a downturn: 18 away games yielded seven wins, eight defeats, and three draws.

On the individual front, Mohamed Salah stands out with six away goals since January, four of which were open-play strikes. Cody Gakpo, by contrast, has one goal from 28 away attempts this year, his sole strike coming from a penalty against Eindhoven.

Liverpool’s away league points since January total 21, a tally bested only by Crystal Palace (25) and Brentford (23); Manchester City and Brighton sit on 19 points with a game in hand.

These numbers put Slot under real pressure: can he formulate solutions to reboot the side, or will away struggles at Anfield hasten a broader crisis across all fronts?

Punchline 1: If football were a sniper's target, this fixture would be a moving bullseye—every replay, a new angle, and somehow still no goal in sight.

Punchline 2: Chelsea and Liverpool chasing glory is like a duel with a boomerang—lots of effort, and the ball keeps coming back to where it started, minus the rewards.