The Reds travel to West London on the opening weekend of the Premier League season looking to strike back after last season’s disappointing fifth-placed finish.
This afternoon’s affair at Stamford Bridge promises to have plenty of extra spice after both clubs this week pursued a deal for Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Despite the Reds’ £111 million bid on Friday morning, the Blues seem to have won the race for the 21-year-old and according to some reports could even unveil him at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.
Ian Doyle and Theo Squires will be in the Stamford Bridge press box to bring you all of the build-up, live updates and analysis. So stay tuned!
John Henry faces big Liverpool transfer task after Chelsea miss their own Moises Caicedo ‘deadline’
“Why would you choose to go to Chelsea over Liverpool?”
Unsurprisingly, that was the question many were asking on the 9.35am train from Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston ahead of the Reds’ opening Premier League fixture of the season at Stamford Bridge. Barely 60 hours earlier, both clubs had become embroiled in a transfer wrangle for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, ensuring all the focus was predominantly on the Ecuadorian’s future in the pre-match build-up.
With Brighton setting a midnight deadline on Thursday to settle the midfielder’s future, Chelsea would belatedly bid £100m for their long-term target. However, Liverpool’s own club-record offer of £110m ensured the Londoners were again knocked back, with the Seagulls intending to sell to the highest bidder.
But then Caicedo apparently declared on Friday that he wanted to join Chelsea. In the two days that have followed there have been countless reports suggesting the Londoners are close to agreeing an £115m deal with Brighton for the midfielder.
Yet come kick-off against Liverpool, the Reds’ own bid remained the only one accepted by the Seagulls. Chelsea have had all summer to secure Caicedo’s signature, but instead they repeatedly fumbled before missing Brighton’s deadline to make the highest bid.
Why Liverpool were not awarded penalty for Nicolas Jackson’s handball vs Chelsea
Chelsea escaped a potential penalty going against them when Nicolas Jackson handled the ball inside the penalty area from a Dominik Szoboszlai corner kick.
Anthony Taylor decided against awarding a spotkick and was not referred to the pitchside monitor to review the incident.
FT: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
It ends level at Stamford Bridge. Neither side were able to find a winner during the second half. This result represents a seventh consecutive draw between the sides.
