Chilwell must stop Salah for Chelsea’s young team to have a chance against Liverpool

Chilwell must stop Salah for Chelsea’s young team to have a chance against Liverpool

 The EPL is back this weekend and the stand-out fixture is between two teams who under-performed last time out - Chelsea vs Liverpool.

Both have been active in the transfer market, both in terms of buying and selling, with key positions now occupied by exciting young talent.

Former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino returns to England to lead a young and dynamic Chelsea squad in West London.

Chelsea have continued to spend significant sums in the transfer market with their new(ish) owners determined to invest in a squad that is capable of competing towards the top of the Premier League table.

For all of the considerable transfer spending at Chelsea last season there were still huge questions about the team's attack.

There was a feeling that Christopher Nkunku, newly signed from the German side RB Leipzig, would fill the role as the first-choice No 9.

This would not necessarily, however, have played to the French international's strength as he prefers a more free-roaming role with the ability to drop into the midfield or move wide.

With Nkunku having suffered a serious injury in pre-season, however, a new solution was needed.

That solution has emerged in the 22-year-old Senegalese international Nicolas Jackson.

The rangy forward was signed this summer from Villarreal for a fee reported to be in the region of £37million and so far he has caught the eye of Chelsea fans.

With Pochettino likely to favour a three-man attack it is almost certain that Jackson will start as the lone central striker against Liverpool this coming weekend.

While Liverpool have two of the most physically capable central defenders in the Premier League, in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, the Senegalese forward could prove to be a difficult opponent given his direct nature and 1v1 ability.

Ukrainian international Mykhailo Mudryk could feature on the left side of the attack.

If Chelsea can add a more potent attack to their strong defence and creative midfield then they may be in a position to threaten.

When this Liverpool side were at their peak under Jurgen Klopp one of the key tactical features of their game was their ferocious pressing game.

Led by the front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane we saw Liverpool consistently look to press and win the ball back as close to the opposition goal as possible.

Last season, with the signing of the Dutch attacker Cody Gakpo, there was the beginnings of a move back towards this high-intensity style, especially in the second half of the Premier League season.

One of the biggest tactical changes made by Klopp was the introduction of a box midfield.

Last season Trent Alexander-Arnold would often move inside from right-back when Liverpool were in possession to the same line as the deepest midfielder for Liverpool, typically Fabinho.

This summer, however, has seen the restructuring of the Liverpool midfield with the long-serving pair of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson both leaving the club for the riches of Saudi Arabia.

 

In their place we now have Alexis Mac Allister, from Brighton, and Dominik Szoboszlai, from RB Leipzig.

In possession though it is likely that we will see Alexander-Arnold moving inside to continue to form that box midfield.

This will on one hand give Liverpool more stability if Chelsea look to build from the back with passes into the midfield but it will also offer Chelsea an opportunity if they are able to play quick direct passes out to the wing to release the likes of Mudryk in space.

Key Battles

Salah vs Chilwell

Despite Liverpool enduring a poor 2022-23 season, Mohamed Salah stood out with 19 goals and 12 assists in 38 Premier League games.

The Egyptian has been one of the Premier League’s best players in the last five years, and his exploits in the final third have been sensational. He had a productive pre-season with the Reds, and an in-form Salah would be bad news for the Chelsea defenders.

Keeping Salah quiet in attack is an uphill task as he’s clever, direct and can use his pace to outrun defenders. Ben Chilwell is expected to get the nod ahead of Marc Cucurella at left-back for the hosts, and he will need to be defensively excellent to keep Salah at arm’s length from Chelsea’s goal.

Given Chilwell is an adventurous left-back, Salah will need to fulfil his bit of defensive duties and track back when Chelsea are on the attack.