Chelsea vs. LFC predictions: Eden Hazard lifts spirits and momentum

Chelsea vs. Liverpool, Round II: This time it’s personal, and by personal we mean everyone will unequivocally take it seriously because it’s the Premier League and not the Milk Cup.

Eden Hazard defeated Liverpool on Chelsea’s behalf on Wednesday, but today will be a different beast. Both sides will start their best XI, which means Hazard will be on from the opening whistle but so will Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and some other guys in red. Our writers are feeling optimistic – or at least more than they were on Tuesday – after the midweek win.

Scott Brant: Chelsea 1 – 1 Liverpool. Both managers will hopefully have learned something from the match midweek. I don’t expect as much scoring – a draw seems like a result both teams would settle for. The most exciting part for me is waiting for Eden Hazard’s performance. The goal he scored after being subbed on midweek was simply majestic. If he shows up and plays like that, Chelsea will win. There is no stopping that man when he plays like that. Hazard to score, and N’Golo Kante will be solely responsible for Liverpool not scoring three.

Barrett Rouen: 3 – 2. It will be an exciting shootout in which Chelsea and Liverpool both play their best players. I can’t bet against Chelsea because that’s wrong, so 3-2 to the Blues in a fixture that could genuinely go either way.

Hugo Amaya: 2 – 0. An intense game for everyone. Liverpool will be looking to get revenge but Chelsea learned from their defensive mistakes. Maurizio Sarri will go with a full squad and the Blues will dominate possession and the game itself. With one goal in each half Sarri’s men get the three points, but more importantly, two wins against Liverpool in the same week.

Abhishek Pancholi: 2 – 1. I predicted a comprehensive drubbing for Chelsea in the last game, but I didn’t take into account one Eden Hazard. This time, I’ll let the optimist in me have its say. Liverpool might be without their best defender, which should make things a bit easier for Maurizio Sarri’s misfiring forwards. Hazard doesn’t care, though. He’ll burst through two banks of four and slot one in the bottom left corner. And then he’ll do it again. Firmino will get one back for the Merseysiders, because I need those fantasy points.

Brendan McDonnell: 2 – 2. I can’t figure out how, if at all, the midweek result will impact this match. I tend to put almost no stock in the Carabao Cup, but both teams played a strong line-up and the crowd was certainly lively. Ultimately, I think we see an extraordinary match with the best players on each side showing their class. Eden Hazard and Alvaro Morata match goal for goal with Sadio Mane and Chelsea legend Mo Salah. We also get a glimpse of why Chelsea paid all the monies for Kepa.

Nate Hofmann: 1 – 3. Chelsea’s dramatic midweek victory will go down as one of the results of the season, punctuated by one of the goals of the season, scored by one of the players of the season.  With that said, Chelsea were let off the hook by some atrocious finishing by Daniel Sturridge, who could have put his former club to the sword on several occasions on top of the chance he did manage to put away.

Replace his minutes and those of the similarly ineffective Xherdan Shaqiri with Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, and Chelsea are probably handily beaten in that match. With both clubs destined to start their strongest attacking lines this weekend, it’ll be a question of how each can cope without their dominant centerback. Both Virgil Van Dijk and Antonio Rudiger are questionable.

Chelsea have looked defensively fragile at the best of times this year, so it’s hard to be especially optimistic about facing this Liverpool side with a makeshift centerback pairing that might include… gasp… Gary Cahill.  Expect goals, but little joy for the Blues.