Keita vs Jorginho: The key battles Liverpool must win to beat Chelsea

Liverpool face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The Reds come off a game reminiscent of 2013/14 at home to Leeds United. The 4-3 win was a positive but with definitive negative connotations, especially at the back.

Chelsea were again rusty on their return but picked up three points on their travels.

A 3-1 defeat of Graham Potter’s Brighton did flatter the Blues, but they, like Liverpool, fulfilled their duty.

Goals from Jorginho, Reece James and Kurt Zouma gave Frank Lampard victory on matchday one.

The two sides met four times last season – twice in the Premier League, and in the UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup.

Chelsea were victorious only in the latter, but were defeated eventually by Arsenal in the final.

The Reds picked up a double in the league, with Trent Alexander-Arnold netting in both the 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge and the 5-3 win at Anfield after Project Restart.

This season arrives a very different Chelsea team to the one who the Reds faced last season though.

The expensive acquisitions of Timo Werner ahead of Liverpool, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell, and Hakim Ziyech have bolstered their first eleven and squad, with the experienced Thiago Silva and young Malang Sarr joining on free transfers at centre back.

Many are tipping Chelsea for success but forget about gelling – this is not FIFA. You can’t just whack six new great players in the same side straight away and expect it to work – half of them don’t speak the same language as each other.

But it would be foolish to suggest that new-look Liverpool are anything near the finished article either – since the restart the Reds have been a pale shadow defensively of the colossus that dominated clean sheet and goals conceded records for 18 months.

It certainly is a tasty outing – here are three key battles which could impact the result on Sunday.