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The Premier League kickstarts 2021 with a barnstorming schedule of games in which all of the top four face off against each other. Here is what to keep an eye out for:
Chelsea vs. Liverpool: Mismatch favors visitors
The meeting of minds between Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, the man who forged the modern Borussia Dortmund and his anointed successor, at the head of two Premier League hyper clubs is nothing if not mouthwatering. All the more frustrating then that we are unlikely to have seen a real match up between Chelsea and Liverpool with these two at the helm.
When they first met in March, Liverpool were an injury-riddled shadow of themselves, rolling out a center back pairing of Ozan Kabak and Fabinho in a 1-0 defeat. Their meeting earlier this season was turning into quite the barn burner at just the moment Reece James was sent off for a contentious red card; from then on we learned that Tuchel’s Chelsea could defend their box better than anyone else but we rather knew that already.
This time it would appear that Chelsea are in the same situation Liverpool found themselves in 10 months ago, struggling to keep the balance in their side as injuries (and a raft of COVID-19 cases) hit Tuchel in key areas. A manager whose substitutes bench against Brighton cost the best part of $340 million will curry little condolence from his fellow managers when he bemoans the demands being placed on his sizeable squad.
Where he merits some degree of sympathy from neutrals is how his side have been consistently hammered in one key area, much as Liverpool were when they lost Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip to season-ending injuries in the space of a few months. As the Reds’ rose with Van Dijk’s flourishings, Chelsea under Tuchel have been defined by their wing backs, stretching the pitch to its widest points in attack whilst concertinaing inwards when put under pressure. Without Ben…
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Source : cbssports
