Liverpool face pressure to reassert authority against injury-hit Chelsea | OneFootball

Chelsea and Liverpool meet at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening in a fixture that carries more weight than the early stage of the season might suggest.

Back-to-back defeats in the Premier League and Champions League have halted Liverpool’s momentum, allowing Arsenal to close the gap at the top.

Chelsea approach the game with a need to steady themselves in domestic competition. They have taken just one point from their last three matches.

The midweek triumph over Benfica in the Champions League offered respite, but discipline and injuries continue to undermine their progress.

Manager Enzo Maresca admitted that red cards have played a decisive role in recent setbacks.

“Most of the games where we didn’t get the points were because they were complicated for us in terms of red cards,” he said. “I don’t see any discipline problem, but again it’s for different reasons.”

Chelsea have collected more cards than any other Premier League club since the start of last season,which has resulted in them chasing games they might otherwise control.

The Italian has also had to cope with a lengthy absentee list, with Cole Palmer among those still sidelined.

Despite this, he expressed faith in his younger players, noting that academy graduates would have opportunities.

“I really trust the young players,” he added. “We have four or five defenders out, but we’re going to try to adapt and find the right solution.”

Liverpool’s vulnerability was another theme of his press conference. Maresca insisted that every team can be exposed, even the reigning champions.

“Now they lost one game, two games, that shows that there is vulnerability,” he said. “This is something, for me, from not just Liverpool, but from all the teams in the world.”