Prediction: Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
At 5.02pm last Saturday, Liverpool were unbeaten and on course for a creditable draw at Selhurst Park. Performances were a nagging concern, but results were encouraging. Then came Nketiah’s stoppage-time winner for Palace, and then Liverpool lost again away to Galatasaray in the Champions League, where goalkeeper Alisson had to go off with a hamstring injury.
By 10pm on Tuesday, the various murmurs of the previous few weeks — about the form of Ibrahima Konate, Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah, the struggles of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak and much else — had grown into wails of doubt. Liverpool need a result at Stamford Bridge, ideally a performance too. Is Chelsea away a good fixture or a bad one in these circumstances? It might suit Liverpool’s forwards more than, for example, Palace away did.