Chelsea vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction

Chelsea vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League match stream, latest team news, lineups, TV, prediction

Blues must take points off the champions to keep on track for a top-five finish

Tough task: Chelsea have not won any of their last 10 games against Liverpool across all

Chelsea vs Liverpool LIVE!

The Reds begin their second-ever reign as Premier League champions today, kicking off at Stamford Bridge where they will receive a guard of honour. Liverpool, of course, have nothing left to play for this season, while Chelsea are still fighting to qualify for the Champions League next term. With one foot already in the Conference League final after a 4-1 win over Djurgarden, Enzo Maresca should go with a strong team.

Chelsea must finish in the top five and, with the top three all but certain of their spots, that leaves four teams - the Blues, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa - fighting it out for two spaces. Chelsea have the momentum but arguably the toughest run-in, but could they benefit from a Liverpool side resting on their laurels? Arne Slot will hope that’s not the case.

Maresca hopes to have Malo Gusto back after a knock, while Robert Sanchez is also close to a return. Mohamed Salah is chasing goal records, so will surely start, but his supporting cast may see changes. Follow Chelsea vs Liverpool live below!

Chelsea vs Liverpool latest news

Kick-off time: 4.30pm BST, Stamford Bridge

How to watch: Sky Sports

Early Chelsea team news: Sanchez should return

Early Liverpool team news: Slot to rotate after title win

Score prediction

Live updates

Chelsea could match worst-ever winless run against Liverpool

The calm before the storm at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have not beaten Liverpool since March 2020.

In fact, the Blues have not won any of their last 10 matches across all competitions against today’s opponents - a run that dates back to 2021.

Another winless effort today would see them match their longest-ever streak without a victory against Liverpool.

They went 11 straight games against them without winning between 1985 and 1990.

There have been plenty of draws between these two teams in recent years and goals can often be in short supply.

Let’s hope that’s not the case today.

Liverpool ran out 2-1 winners at Anfield back in October in an incident-packed game that saw Curtis Jones notch a second-half winner after Nicolas Jackson had cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s penalty and the hosts had another spot-kick award overturned by VAR.

Why Liverpool guard of honour could help inspire Chelsea bid to become contenders

Experience is the topic of the moment at Stamford Bridge, writes Malik Ouzia.

Chelsea, by their own design, don’t have a great deal of it and while Enzo Maresca has hinted he might like to bring some in this summer, he has also been adamant that the young players already at the club will be better for their tumultuous journey through this campaign.

There was last summer’s ‘bomb squad’ and all the uncertainty it brought around the makeup of the playing staff. There was early talk of turbulence in the boardroom that had to be shut out, then even noisier chatter about a premature title challenge that Maresca did his best to quell.

Into the New Year, there was a mid-season slump, another disruptive transfer window cull, an attacking injury crisis and, in recent weeks, something of a rallying response.

It is thanks to that melting pot of fortunes that this season could still yet end in either glory or failure, with European silverware, a return to the Champions League, both or none.

Enzo Maresca confirms Chelsea will give Liverpool guard of honour

As mentioned, Liverpool will receive the first of four likely pre-match guards of honour between now and the end of the season at Stamford Bridge today after they clinched the Premier League title last week.

While Chelsea are under no obligation to do it and it’s a purely voluntary act, it has long since become tradition in the top-flight when a club wraps up the championship with games to spare.

Every one of Liverpool’s last seven opponents - including Chelsea - did it for Jurgen Klopp’s runaway champions during the Covid-hit 2019/20 campaign, their only other title of the Premier League era so far.

Asked after the win over Djurgarden in Sweden if Chelsea would follow tradition with a guard of honour, manager Enzo Maresca said: “I think it's a tradition, it's something you have to do, and we're going to do.

"First of all, they won the league, so they deserve that, and hopefully we can be there [as champions] very soon."

Chelsea vs Liverpool prediction

As Chelsea chase Champions League qualification, they will hope against hope that Liverpool are already on the beach, having secured the title with weeks to spare - though they will require a first home win over the Reds since March 2020.

And Slot’s men really have little to play for. There are no points records to chase and no notable accolades to be claimed besides Mohamed Salah extending his lead in the Golden Boot race.

Should Slot opt to hand runs out to his fringe and academy players, Chelsea could be in with a chance to spoil the party.

Chelsea to win, 2-0.

Early Liverpool team news: Slot to rotate after title win

Conor Bradley looks set to be back involved for Liverpool today after missing the title-clinching 5-1 comeback rout of Tottenham at Anfield last weekend with a minor knock.

That leaves fellow defender Joe Gomez as the Reds’ only known injury absentee as he continues to recover from hamstring surgery.

With the title wrapped up with four games to spare, Arne Slot has confirmed he will employ some squad rotation in the final weeks of the season.

While we shouldn’t expect wholesale changes, fans are hoping to see the likes of Harvey Elliott and Federico Cheisa given chances to prove they deserve to stay at the club beyond the summer.

Curtis Jones, Diogo Jota, Kostas Tsimikas, Jarell Quansah, Wataru Endo and Darwin Nunez are among the other players hoping for more starting opportunities.

Early Chelsea team news: Sanchez should return

Chelsea are expected to have first-choice goalkeeper Robert Sanchez back fit this afternoon after he missed Thursday’s 4-1 win away at Djurgarden in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final tie with a knock.

However, fellow midweek absentee Christopher Nkunku is not likely to return until the second leg on home soil later in the week.

Malo Gusto has returned to the squad after injury, with Romeo Lavia fresh as he is ineligible to play in the Conference League.

Blues boss Enzo Maresca made eight changes to his starting XI in Stockholm and should go with his strongest lineup here with that tie well in hand, including likely starts out wide for Noni Madueke and Pedro Neto.

Wesley Fofana, Marc Guiu and Omari Kellyman are all out injured, while Mykhailo Mudryk remains unavailable for selection.

How to watch Chelsea vs Liverpool

TV channel: In the UK, today’s game will be televised live on Sky Sports.

Coverage begins on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event at 4pm BST - after Brighton vs Newcastle on Super Sunday.

Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also catch the contest live online via the Sky Go app.

Chelsea vs Liverpool live

Good afternoon and welcome to Standard Sport’s live coverage of Chelsea vs Liverpool.

The Reds begin their second reign as Premier League champions at Stamford Bridge today, where they will receive a pre-match guard of honour as per top-flight tradition.

For Chelsea, it’s another huge clash in the battle for a top-five finish and Champions League qualification next term.

Kick-off this afternoon is at 4:30pm BST, so stay tuned for live updates, team news and expert analysis from Chelsea correspondent Malik Ouzia in west London.