Chris Sutton has made his score prediction ahead of Liverpool against Chelsea at Anfield.
Liverpool and Chelsea face off twice in the next few weeks, starting with tomorrow night’s Premier League fixture at Anfield.
Afterwards, they’ll meet on 25 February at Wembley Stadium in the Carabao Cup final.
Liverpool would be the obvious favourites to beat Chelsea given they’re the side in a title race this season, but this has been such a tight fixture in recent years.
BBC pundit Chris Sutton is predicting a “very close” affair between Liverpool and Chelsea, but he’s edging with the hosts to win on Merseyside.
“It is a massive game for Liverpool,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“This is a dress rehearsal for the Carabao Cup final and it is a dangerous game for Liverpool after [Jurgen] Klopp’s announcement that he is leaving at the end of the season.
“Chelsea have won their past three Premier League games, so they are slowly getting there and finding some consistency.
“There have been some great games between these two teams down the years and I am not totally sure who will come out on top in this one.
“Given Chelsea’s position in the table, they don’t have as much riding on this and, if you ask their fans, they would probably rather win the cup final than this game.
“You still don’t know what you are going to get from Pochettino’s team, good or bad, and if it clicks they can cause Liverpool a few problems – but I am still going to go with a Liverpool win, although it will be very close.
“Sutton’s prediction: 2-1.”
Liverpool vs Chelsea
It’s going to take a big performance from the Blues to win away at the league leaders, but they’ve shown they’re usually competitive against the top clubs. As it stands, we’re ninth and only a point behind Brighton in seventh.
We’ll be intrigued to see what team Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino selects on Wednesday night.
The Evening Standard has claimed that defender Levi Colwill is an injury doubt to play versus Liverpool because of a small hamstring injury.
However, the Blues defence is looking a bit tougher in recent weeks, especially with goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic impressing in net.
