PREVIEW: Chelsea vs Liverpool

Chelsea will face Liverpool at the Stamford Bridge on Tuesday for their matchday 8 fixture. The meeting was originally scheduled for September but it was postponed due to the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.
Both teams are in a critical situation as neither of them have had good results in the last few weeks and are not in the top positions of the standings. Liverpool are eighth on 42 points while Chelsea are eleventh on 38 points. These places are unusual for either team but both will be looking for three points in Tuesday's match.
Liverpool's aim is to reach the Champions League places, according to striker Diogo Jota: "We need to fight to try to do the best possible we can this season, because there's still 11 games to go and we need to give proper energy and be ready for next season, because we need to qualify for something, and Champions League is still possible," he said.
Nonetheless, the Blues want to prove that their financial efforts have not been in vain and that they really deserve to keep climbing the table. The board are working on finding an improvement for the rest of the season and for next campaign and have already made a big change to the team in the last few days.
Chelsea sacked first-team coach Graham Potter on Sunday after a 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa. The English manager has not delivered a good result for the Blues as Chelsea have not won a game since 11th March. The Premier League giants wanted to stress that "Potter has agreed to collaborate with the club to facilitate a smooth transition". Bruno Saltor will be in charge of the team until the end of the season and will coach them for the last ten Premier League games and the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.
Furthermore, Potter is already on the agendas of Premier League clubs such as Leicester City, who sacked Brendan Rodgers on Sunday. However, The English coach will no longer be linked with Chelsea for at least this campaign.
Elsewhere, there is bad news for the Reds. Luis Diaz, who was injured for six months, has recovered and is training with his teammates but will not be available for this match. Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp confirmed this at Monday's pre-match press conference.
"No, he's not available [to face Chelsea]. He is in training but he's not ready for this game. As much as we want him to be back, we still have to give him time," the German said.
According to the Liverpool boss, both teams will be looking for a reaction in Tuesday's game: "The boys are still good people and they want to show a reaction, 100 per cent. But the short turnaround is the problem, in this moment I have no clue who I can line up. There will be changes definitely, [there] have to be. That’s what we have to use then," he added.

Changes in the starting eleven are expected in this encounter. Chelsea have won three of their last five games - against Leeds United, Borussia Dortmund and Leicester, but drew against Everton and lost to Aston Villa. The dynamic of the team could change dramatically as Saltor will be in charge of the squad and could use different methods than Potter.
Liverpool have lost three of their last five matches - against Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bournemouth. Nevertheless, they thrashed Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield and won against Wolves. Neither team are coming into it with their best form for Tuesday's match.
The last five matches between Chelsea and Liverpool have ended in draws and the home side have not beaten the Reds since 4th March 2021 in the Premier League.
Referee: Anthony Taylor
VAR: Chris Kavanagh
Game: Chelsea vs Liverpool
Location: Stamford Bridge, London
Time: 4th April 2023, 21.00 CEST