Chelsea score predictions: A mixed bag against the champions

Chelsea hosts Liverpool in one of the season’s most exciting early matchups. Here are The Pride of London’s score predictions.

The champions come to town for the first time since early last season. Between the rivalry between managers, the history between clubs and hatred amongst fan bases, there is no love lost between these two sides. Chelsea lost in a thriller against Liverpool just a few short months ago, now the two sides are ready to go again. The Blues have some new additions, but with some key names absent, is Frank Lampard’s XI good enough to dethrone the reigning Premier League kings? Here are our staff’s predictions for the Sunday clash:

Nathaniel Kay: 3-2 Chelsea

This one is always fun. Liverpool has been suffering from symptoms of Chelsea-defending-itus lately, and the only cure is a big dose of goals galore at either end. Back and fourth the scoreline goes, like a final at Wimbledon, before Timo Werner makes a fool of the wall that is Virgil van Dijk and opens his accounts for the Blues in the 75′.

Tan Yi Hao: 1-2 Liverpool

Chelsea may have spent in excess of £250m this transfer window, but considering just how big the point gap was last season, winning the league this season was always going to be a tough ask. The team is still in preseason mode and most of the new signings are just not up to speed yet. This game will ultimate serve as a poignant reminder of the road ahead for Chelsea and Lampard to return to the pinnacle of English and European football.

Barrett Rouen: 2-1 Chelsea

The good news is that it would be hard for the Blues to play any worse than they did to open the season. An improved performance with a formation that makes sense and some more experience added to it will get the Blues into a good place against a Liverpool side who is struggling with the lack of post-title motivation. That or we get properly smacked, but I’d never predict that.

Michael DeVito: 2-0 Chelsea

I’d feel a whole lot better about this with Edouard Mendy in goal. In the present, I feel Willy Caballero would be the better choice.

Mike Malley: 0-2 Liverpool

I wish I could be more optimistic about this game, but every player in the squad seems to be at a different preparedness level. Some are injured, some of the new signings aren’t ready yet and Mateo Kovacic is just returning from suspension. It’s all kind of a mess. I think the Blues can play well, but in the end, Liverpool’s cohesion as a unit will probably win out.

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 2-1 Chelsea

Chelsea is yet to win a Premier League game against Liverpool under Lampard. Jurgen Klopp has been passing comments that Lampard has found mildly amusing lately. The best way to shut up the Liverpool gaffer would be to give him a resounding beating. That, however, is a lot to ask for, so we’ll settle for a 2-1 victory. The Blues have played well on several occasions against Liverpool and they need to start backing it up with wins.

Travis Tyler: 1-1 Draw

For all the talk going into this one from both sides, it ends up being a turgid affair split just after half time.

Varun Dani: 2-1 Chelsea

Lampard’s double pivot is starting to make Chelsea’s defense look confident again, and with Kovacic returning, the Blues should be well prepared for Liverpool’s onslaught. Klopp’s men, on the other hand, have been a shadow of their former selves while defending. Expect Werner to get his first goal(s) in blue at Stamford Bridge, against the team that rejected him.

Nate Hofmann: 2-4 Liverpool

This one comes just a bit too early for a Chelsea side that is still slowly taking form. It will be great fun to watch Werner run rings around the club that seemed so deliciously cocksure of signing him, but Jurgen Klopp’s underfunded, underprivileged and under-appreciated should be able to heroically scrape by against the oppressive financial might of a Russian oligarch. Just don’t look at the price tags on Virgil Van Dijk, Allison, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Mohamed Salah, etc. The reverse fixture will be one of Chelsea’s biggest measuring sticks this season, but this one will still feel a bit preseason-y.

Oliver Smith: 2-3 Liverpool

There will be goals in this one, and quite frankly, it could go either way. Maybe Arrizabalaga steals this one for Chelsea and if Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma play as well as they did against Brighton, there is a chance that the Blues could somehow sneak out with the points. Yet, Brighton and Liverpool are two different conundrums, and Klopp will have whipped his side into something fierce after their performance against Leeds. It comes down to the fact that without Tiago Silva, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech, the Blues host Liverpool a few weeks before they would ideally like to and it will cost them three points as Liverpool sneak in a last minute goal. Werner will get his first, Mount to score the second.

Kevin Peacock: 2-0 Chelsea

Top banter club Liverpool visit Stamford Bridge expecting an easy ride. It won’t be. The Reds are, of course, a different kind of club than Chelsea. Their entire team, cobbled together on a budget of pennies and not even remotely bankrolled by a billionaire, is far removed from its illustrious opponents. Financially, compared to the Blues, Jurgen Klopp’s side must be regarded as amateurs. So small is Klopp’s meagre salary that he has to be looked upon as a mere footballIng hobbyist. As for the game itself, Chelsea‘s vastly more expensive band of brothers beat the paupers from the northwest 2-0. The world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Arrizabalaga, shows just why Roman Abramovich was prepared to spend so much money on him with a storming performance.

Abhishek Pancholi: 3-1 Chelsea

The paupers from Merseyside, with their team cobbled together on a shoestring budget, will be looking for an upset here. The poor buggers lost out on Werner and Kai Havertz because they refused to compromise on their financial principles.

No laughing at the back, please.

Those two players will combine to show Herr Klopp what he is missing. Werner will score twice and set one up. Havertz will set up two and score the third. Klopp will be fuming at the end, but spending another £50 million in addition to the £70 odd million spent in a mad 24-hour dash should ease the pain.

Scott Brant: 1-2 Liverpool

I don’t do this often, and it may only happen once or twice the rest of the season, but the Blues take loss to Liverpool. It will be close, but Chelsea just won’t have enough with its current injury list. Werner to score, Salah and Mane for the other side.

Jake Leach: 2-2 Draw

It will be a similar game to the encounter post-lockdown. Both sides love to attack; Werner will be itching to get off the mark, as well. The feud between Klopp and Lampard could add more intensity and desire. It is set to be a classic at the Bridge.

Hugo Amaya: 3-2 Chelsea

This is an optimistic prediction. Chelsea will allow Liverpool to attack as much as possible, but the Blues’ counter attacking power will be too much to handle. By no means will this be an easy win and every Chelsea fan will sweat from the first minute to the last. Goals from Werner, Mount and Giroud for Chelsea.

Gabe Henderson: 2-2 Draw

I’m confident in Chelsea, but not confident enough. I think the Blues play well enough to manage a point against the champions. In the end, it’ll be the unstoppable front three of Liverpool that prevents the home side from taking all three points.

Wilfried Lawerence: 2-2 Draw

Chelsea catching Liverpool at a good time still probably won’t be enough for the victory, but you take a draw with the champions. Back and  forth game, with the goals coming from a couple of braces from Salah and Werner, each showing the other team what they missed out on.

What are your score predictions? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!