Liverpool need focus and diligence against white-hot Chelsea

Liverpool need to focus against Chelsea.

After an embarrassing outing at Emirates in London in their last game, Jurgen Klopp and the Reds will be looking to avoid the same fate at Anfield on Wednesday as Chelsea rolls into town.

Two first half blunders against Arsenal from unexpected culprits Virgil Van Dijk and Allison saw the Reds go into halftime down 2-1. Their unimaginative, uninventive response failed miserably to answer questions the Gunners posed by out playing the lads for the final 70 minutes.

Liverpool could not come up with any answers of their own, and they couldn’t present any worthy questions to an Arsenal defense that seemed in complete control in the second period.

Chelsea have played well in the restart, eliminating Manchester United in the FA cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday last. They will be looking to further tarnish the runaway title season of Liverpool who have been sluggish, feckless, and overall, just average since the restart.

Klopp and the lads will be playing for pride, and to protect a home record that hasn’t seen them lose at Anfield, since the defeat to Crystal Palace in April 2017.

Since Liverpool last lost at home, Man United spent over £400m on new players, Chelsea have had three managers and Spurs built a stadium.

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Without fans in the seats at Anfield, this could prove to be a heavy lift for Liverpool and the title winning Reds. Their form has been abysmal of late, and Chelsea by contrast are playing solid football for Frank Lampard.

The Reds will need to be focused and show diligent concentration to get the three points here. Their attention and focus will no doubt be on what comes after the match concludes when they will be presented with their first Premier League trophy. Their first title for top flight English football in 30 years.

So focus and concentration will be the name of the game for these Reds, could be suspect in this situation. Make no mistake, Chelsea will be coming to play, and their focus will be on taking three points from the champions.

This is the time for Liverpool to stand tall and make a solid go of it. They’ll need to presenting their  championship qualities and character on the pitch, before claiming the long sought prize post-match.

While nothing can ultimately diminish this teams accomplishment in these past two campaigns, suffering a home loss to Chelsea at this point would and should put a dampened spirit on the post-match celebration.

Up the Reds!