Game Week 36 Predictions: Liverpool to beat Chelsea at Anfield

Liverpool will confirm their spot in next season's Champions League with a win over Chelsea. Can the Blues halt the rot and finally pick...

Liverpool will confirm their spot in next season's Champions League with a win over Chelsea. Can the Blues halt the rot and finally pick a Premier League point? (Photo credit: Opta)

 Liverpool vs Chelsea

Anfield Stadium

12:30pm

Chelsea's season has already plummeted into what their fans don't want to think about. A round of 16 crash in the Champions League, a horrible showing in the league, and only the FA Cup final to cling to. Will they find joy there?

The Blues go into this fixture at Anfield on the back of six straight losses. Their latest embarrassment came in front of their fans against Nottingham Forest; a 3-1 home loss to the Europa League semifinalists tells the story of Chelsea's entire season.

The rot can get deeper on Saturday when Chelsea visits Liverpool. The Kops aren't exactly in a better place, but they have a stronger reason to go all out and do better than they did at Old Trafford last weekend.

Liverpool got two gifts, one from Amad Diallo and the other from Lammens, but they still conceded a Kobbie Mainoo goal and lost 3-2 on the road. Liverpool needs a win to confirm Champions League football; they will hope to get it in this fixture.

How did it get this bad for Chelsea? You can't look far from the owners' model. It's no longer about being competitive on the pitch; it's now about a commercial project that earns huge money off the pitch from player sales.

Chelsea fans who witnessed the ruthless Roman Abrahamovic era will wonder what happened to their club. 19 trophies in 20 years under the Russian royalty are now history as the club struggles for identity on the pitch.

Callum McFarlane will go head-to-head with Arne Slot, another manager who has had to explain himself a lot in the media in recent weeks. Liverpool's form hasn't been great, but the champions will be the favorite when this game kicks off.

We're nearing the end of Liverpool's reign as champions. Their title defense will go down as one of the worst in history, as they were thrown out of the race too early. Now is the time for Slot to find the right balance to finish strongly.

Mohammed Salah and Alison are both major doubts for this one. Florian Wirtz is expected to feature while Liverpool continues to do things without the duo of Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak. Are we about to see Rio Ngomouha again?

Chelsea will be without a host of wingers, but Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer are available to try again. The England playmaker missed from the spot against Forest on Monday; he has to repay the faith in this fixture.

Only a win can help Chelsea's European dreams. Even at that, they need a collapse of some sort from the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford, and Brighton for them to achieve sixth place. There's a world in which Aston Villa wins the Europa League to hand the Premier League an extra slot in the Champions League next season.

Verdict: Liverpool to win.