The first weekend of Premier League action in 2022 finishes off with a huge clash between Chelsea and Liverpool. The Reds are looking to become only the second team in league history to beat Chelsea in three consecutive away matches.
Mohamed Salah has been crushing it throughout the season and bookmaker William Hill has enhanced odds at 5.00 for him to score first on Sunday.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 1st, 6:30 P.M. (EST)
This fixture has major implications for the whole season. Manchester City have started to run away with the Premier League title and both Chelsea and Liverpool need to reignite their seasons with a big result to have any hopes of catching Pep Guardiola’s men.
The Blues have been slumping for a while now with only two wins in six league outings and Liverpool’s hot streak has suddenly ended with a run of just one point in two games.
Led by Salah, Jürgen Klopp’s team has been full of goals all season, but their run of 28 consecutive games with at least one goal was ended by Leicester on Tuesday.
Salah failed to score from the penalty spot at King Power Stadium and that pretty much summed up Liverpool’s night. The Egyptian superstar had scored 15 consecutive penalties and it was only his second-ever miss in the Premier League.
Liverpool’s No. 11 has never scored for the team at Stamford Bridge in four outings although he did notch both of his league goals for Chelsea at the stadium.
Chelsea’s preparations for the big game have been far from ideal following Romelu Lukaku’s untimely interview where he expressed his disappointment on how his return to Stamford Bridge has gone.
The big Belgian started off in dominating fashion, but he’s struggled to make his way into Thomas Tuchel’s plans after battling injury and COVID-19. Lukaku has been back in form lately with goals in back-to-back games, but there are reports of Tuchel planning to completely drop him from the matchday squad as a way to punish him for his words.
With or without Lukaku, Chelsea should be able to be a constant offensive threat in front of their fans, but they also have to sort out their defense to get their title quest back on track. Tuchel’s men recorded seven clean sheets in the first 10 league games of the season but a run of just two shutouts has followed in the next 10 matches.
