Big-money signing, Mudryk, may lead Chelsea’s attack against Liverpool

Chelsea’s new signing, Chelsea’s Ukrainian midfielder Mykhailo Mudryk is introduced to the crowd at half-time in the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge in London on January 15, 2023. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was expected to give an update on the fitness of Darwin Nunez, who has been nursing a thigh injury, in his press conference yesterday.

Long-term absentees, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk all remain out. Chelsea may hand a debut to Mykhailo Mudryk but Joao Felix serves the second of a three-match ban.

Mudryk is poised to become the second Ukrainian to make a Premier League appearance for Chelsea, after Andriy Shevchenko. Wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell have both returned to training this week but are unlikely to feature.

Both sides have been incredibly inconsistent this season and it is impossible to know what they will do next. Liverpool for a while now, have shown lack of energy and legs in midfield, and their defeat at Brighton last weekend was not even that big a surprise.

It is a similar story with Chelsea, but nobody know which Blues team will turn up at Anfield. They got an important win over Crystal Palace last time out, but they needed some big saves from Kepa Arrizabalaga to get over the line.

A win would be a huge boost in confidence for both teams but it is hard to make a case for either of them to take the three points.On head-to-head, Liverpool have lost just two of the past 15 Premier League meetings (W6, D7). The two sides could draw three consecutive league games against each other for the first time.

The last time they met in the Premier League while both being outside the top