Chelsea needs to believe they can spoil Liverpool’s week

Liverpool seems an impossible juggernaut at the moment, but Chelsea needs to believe they can ruin the Reds’ week alongside Watford.

Liverpool took their title run last season in stride as they won the Champions League along the way. This season, they have merely continued that momentum defeating (and often crushing) everything in their path with apathy.

They are not perfect however. They have lost twice in the Champions League. This past weekend, Watford showed that Liverpool was mortal in the Premier League as well. Aston Villa showed that Liverpool would not always be willing to split their attention, offering a chance for the rest of the world.

Chelsea has played Liverpool twice this season and have failed to win in either. The first was the Super Cup where the Blues took Liverpool to penalties. The second was the narrow league loss. Chelsea was never outclassed in either match. The Blues need not be outclassed in this one either. They just have to believe they can continue to ruin this week for Liverpool.

The loss to Watford had been coming for quite a while. Liverpool may be romping to the top on paper, but the reality is that it has been a slow moving behemoth. It seems odd to say, but they are winning most matches with a champion’s mentality of simply grinding it out and getting the job done. The shock and awe of previous Liverpool seasons has not been seen much.

That in of itself was not done in a vacuum either. Atletico Madrid also frustrated Liverpool into a narrow loss in the first leg of the Champions League. A back and forth West Ham match that Liverpool just eked out sat between the two losses.

So Liverpool is beatable and wounded at the moment. Jurgen Klopp has been known to prioritize competitions over one another and, despite the Premier League being all but settled, he may opt to do the same in the FA Cup. After all, that would just be another burden down the road if Klopp wanted to pursue the Champions League once more.

But all of that will be academic if Chelsea does not come into the match with the swagger of the old Chelsea. The Blues need to believe they can win and they need to believe that their previous performances were a reflection of what they can really do (despite the ultimate result).

Chelsea has been able to mostly match their rivals or even exceed them head to head this season. The mentality is there and the mere fact that Liverpool is on a march this season should not stop Chelsea. This is the club’s best chance of silverware this season and it is very much there for the taking.

The old guard Chelsea would look at this match, battered and bruised as they may be, as a chance to show the world where they stand. The new guard will get their opportunity as they seek any piece of silverware this season.