Pizy

Damn. I can't see us going in to the Emirates with a Cahill & Luiz CB partnership and emerging with 3 points. With JT's leadership and organization I would've given us a great chance. Plus, we all know Ivanovic will go straight back in the team... My hope is that we'll see Azpi and Alonso as fullbacks and Cesc in a midfield 3 with Matic and Kante. My bet is we'll see the same team we've been playing, though.

Have to imagine that we would've looked significantly more solid all around with Kante in there so I'm not too mad about the first part of the match. Cesc surely has to start in place of Oscar and alongside Matic and Kante for Arsenal. He'll be up for it against his former club and with Conte's trust in such a huge occasion. He offers far more than Oscar going forward and with two sets of legs behind him that should be enough protection. Just don't have Matic going forward as much.

Diego has been unreal since coming on. Unstoppable. Would be pretty embarrassing to go on and lose this now with 30 minutes against 10 tired men.

Cesc was fine going forward there but is so painfully, ridiculously slow and unathletic it's hard to watch. Like an out of shape fan put on a Chelsea kit and had a go. Think the only way he can start is with both Matic and Kante around him.

Klopp as well last season. Liverpool were embarrassingly bad at points under him last season.

Some comical defending, yes, but it's like flashbacks to last season where seemingly every single mistake we make gets punished by a goal. Poor, but also painfully unlucky.

I hope Alonso kills it today so that Conte will feel he can't leave him out at the weekend. Also hope Luiz bosses it and builds up his chemistry with the other players.

So sick of him on and off the pitch, tbh. Comes off as a spoiled child who can't help but mouth off in the press and says mind bogglingly stupid things. Then on the pitch he seems so timid and you never see him yelling and organizing the back line. When he concedes soft goals he just has that "ah, whatever" look on his face like he isn't bothered. Just fuck him off to Real Madrid and rinse them on the fee. Go and get someone who would actually be happy to play for Chelsea.

Christ, I thought I was a bit negative... No way have Spurs looked significantly better than us. They've been nowhere near where they were last season so far and now may be losing Kane for an extended period. Liverpool have been (really) hot and cold. That's how I think they'll be all season. They'll look unstoppable one game and woeful the next. Everton won't keep this up all season. The only 100% certainty for the top 4 is City who will walk the title by the look of it. With the amount of uncertainty with everyone but them, we have a fantastic shot at top 4. We win our next 2 PL games against top quality sides and suddenly we're right back up there and morale is restored.

Unfair on Matic. Thought he was solid and our best midfielder. Oscar on the other hand I agree with. He was and is useless at everything but harassing people with the ball. Offers no cutting edge going forward with either his passing or his shooting. He's just an average player. We either need to bring Cesc in for him or play with two forwards.

I just don't understand how a player with the ability to be the best player in the world like Hazard just has such a weak mentality. He just looks like he gives up if something doesn't come off for him. Goes into a shell. He should be looking to attack and assert himself but just doesn't. Really, really frustrating. And if this wasn't the game where Conte realizes how terrible Ivanovic is I will rage. He's got cement boots. Ball watches and gets caught out time and time again. He was dreadful.

So much for Hazard being back. Hazard, Willian, Oscar and Diego were all shit. Absolutely pathetic that our midfield got completely bossed by He derision, Wijnaldum, and Lallana. They passed rings and us. At home! They just embarrassed us in our own home. We just aren't nearly as far along as I thought we were. Player for player we have way better talent than they do but Klopp is such a good coach that he drags them up a level or two.

Yeah, just saw that. It's that idiot Neil Ashton who's been saying this for weeks. It's bullshit.

Their defense and midfield look so bang average. We're such a better team than they are in terms of talent. Up to them to show that, though.

Possibly no Firmino, Milner probably at fullback, Henderson in midfield...we're at home. Really no excuses here. We should be winning this. Hazard should be able to dominate a match like this.

Not seeing many Liverpool fans predicting them losing or even drawing. Most of them i'm seeing are saying they'll batter us.

Just hope we don't "Mourinho" it and sit back at home and allow Liverpool the lions share of possession. They've proven this season so far that they create loads of chances if given the ball. We need to be progressive and play on the front foot. Play like a big team with confidence. Player for player we're better at every position just about. We have to use that to our advantage. We also have to hope Conte has been hammering home the message to Costa all week about keeping his cool. You know Klopp will be telling Lovren and the rest of their players to wind him up and try to get him booked or sent off. He can feast on that defense if his head is in it and he's not fighting and arguing the whole time.

I see the inbred Scouse mutants on RAWK are super confident that they'll come to the Bridge and spank us. Goddamn, I hope we embarrass them...

I guess that's the thing. He's so consistently awesome that you just expect it. Liverpool will be a massive test for him and Matic.

Wait, now people here are calling for Cesc to start? Liverpool are probably the last type of side you want to see Fabregas against. A side with loads of energy, athleticism, and who press relentlessly. Basically his cryptonite. Think we need Oscar in there again. Thought he was fine yesterday. Plenty of tackling, tracking back, and was also dangerous in the final third. We need as much steel against that lot as possible.

Disagree. He was great. Stepped into so many passing lanes to intercept the ball, made several great tackles, and did a bunch of things that don't show up on the stat sheet like pressurizing opponents and forcing them to either give the ball away or pass backwards. Without him we may very well have lost that game like we often did last season.

Agreed. If Costa doesn't get wound up by the Liverpool player who you know will be doing everything they can to set him off, he should destroy that defense. Worried about their attack and their pressing, though. We should be bossing the midfield and causing them all sorts of headaches in attack.

One of the worst officiated matches I've ever seen. Completely out of control there. - Cahill was abysmal. Foul or not from Fer, what the fuck are you thinking dwelling on the ball in that situation!? Idiot. - Hazard was off that game. Looked super dangerous time after time until it got to the last pass or shot where he choked. - Diego and Kante were immense. All defenders other than Cahill were good. Oscar and Matic were good. If Diego had scored that tap-in I think it would've killed the game. It would've demoralized Swansea and it could've been 4 or 5-0. Instead, it stayed 0-1, they get a super fluke penalty, and get belief and the crowd behind them. We need to be much more clinical and kill teams off or this can always happen. Totally dominated them but come away feeling like we lost it.

After initially struggling with their high press, we dominated that half. Kante, Oscar, and Matic were all excellent as were Diego and Willian. Just get Hazard to run at them more and more and we should score a couple more. Definitely don't think 1 goal will be enough. Not with Sigurdson out there who's a huge danger.

Actually starting to feel bad for Cesc. He can't get a sniff against these small sides so what hope does he have to play against the big ones? Hard to change a team that's worked well so far, but I would've liked to see him start here.