Chelsea Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Liverpool

The Blues face a tough test as they travel away to Anfield with a short gap after their long Champions League away trip

Chelsea travel to Liverpool on Saturday after back-to-back 4-0 wins in the Champions League and Premier League, but they will have little rest between their matches.

Some of Antonio Conte’s team didn't get to sleep until around 06:00 after their longest ever European away trip on Wednesday, as they went to Azerbaijan and flew back immediately after their 4-0 win over Qarabag.

Jurgen Klopp's men could be in better physical shape as they got back from Sevilla 24 hours before Chelsea. The Blues were at least able to rotate a number of big-name players in their match in Baku, however.

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CHELSEA INJURIES

Michy Batshuayi remains doubtful for Chelsea's match on Saturday after suffering an ankle injury while away with the Belgium national team.

Charly Musonda and Kenedy could also be out with minor injuries but Victor Moses is expected to return from a grade three hamstring tear to face his former club. Conte has stated that he is planning on leaving Moses into the match from the bench on Saturday in his press conference on Friday afternoon.

Next matches

"His condition is good," Conte said. "For sure he needs a bit of time to recover the best form. Tomorrow he is in our squad. I think I want to bring him on the bench and then to decide, to decide if there is the necessity to put him inside or not.

"I'm very happy because now he's fine. He's fine. But he needs a bit of time to find the best physical condition."

Chelsea have a clean bill of health apart from that but Conte is unhappy with the fixture schedule, which threatens to exhaust his side.

“We had to work during the flight to prepare the game against Liverpool,” Conte said. “But I must be honest, we started before [Qarabag] to prepare for the game against Liverpool.

“For sure, to have only one day to rest and prepare this big game is not simple. I think also it’s not right. I don’t want to complain about this situation, but this is the reality.

“Now we have to travel for five-and-a-half hours. And then try to rest for one day and prepare the game against Liverpool, another big game like the City game.”

GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images

CHELSEA SUSPENSIONS

Chelsea have no suspensions for the upcoming match against West Bromwich Albion. Antonio Rudiger is only one caution away from earning a one-match suspension for receiving five domestic yellow cards.

The cut-off this season is after 19 league games, so to escape bans then all Chelsea players need to avoid accumulating five bookings until they play Everton on December 23.

POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP

Alvaro Morata, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen were rested for the match in Baku and a number of players were substituted, which gave an insight into the team that Conte might select.

Morata 23/20 to score anytime

Chelsea will likely go for a 3-5-2 line up and recall Bakayoko while leaving out Pedro and Willian. Christensen, Morata and Cahill will all likely return to the starting line up while Zappacosta should continue with Moses not fully fit.

Hazard, Marcos Alonso and N'Golo Kante were substituted against Qarabag and they will also start at Anfield.

Goal

LIVERPOOL TEAM NEWS

Joel Matip is the latest doubt for Liverpool, who displayed their defensive frailties as Sevilla mounted a comeback from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 on Tuesday. Adam Lallana could return for the Reds after a sustained period of injury.

Nathaniel Clyne has a long-term issue and won't be available for the match. He has a back problem and will be out for three months.

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BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS

Chelsea haven’t lost any of their last five Premier League visits to Anfield (W2 D3), since a 1-4 loss in May 2012.
This will be the 55th meeting between these sides in all competitions since the turn of the century – the most played fixture among sides within England’s top four tiers.
In their last match against West Bromwich Albion, Marcos Alonso became the 42nd different player Cesc Fabregas has provided an assist for in the Premier League - only Ryan Giggs (45 players) has assisted a higher tally of teammates than Fabregas.
15 of Chelsea’s Premier League goals have been scored by Spanish players this season – only two teams in the Spanish Liga have seen more of their goals scored by Spaniards than this tally in 2017-18; Real Sociedad (18) and Valencia (16).
Alvaro Morata has had a hand in 12 goals in his first 11 Premier League games for Chelsea (eight goals, four assists), more than any other Blues player in the competition’s history.
Mohamed Salah has netted nine goals in the Premier League this term; the most by any Liverpool player in their first 12 appearances in the competition. He appeared 13 times in the Premier League for Chelsea and scored just twice.