Chelsea face off against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, as Antonio Conte’s side looks to remain unbeaten in the Premier League. The Blues have made a positive start to the new season and are currently placed at 2nd place with 10 points from four games. With three wins and a draw to their name, the west London outfit will want to keep up the good work when they welcome the Reds at home this weekend.
Conte knows that the Merseyside outfit are in good form as well and are placed at 6th place with 7 points so far. After losing the chance to go top of the points table, the former champions of England will want to perform better this time around and secure all three points at home.
It will undoubtedly a tough battle between the two teams and skipper John Terry will be missed at the back. The former Italy boss respects Jurgen Klopp and knows that the tie could end up being an end to end encounter.
It will not just be a test of nerves, but of skill as well, as the two teams will look to win this crucial match and make their title contention for the season quite clear, this early in the campaign.
Here is what Conte had to say in his pre-match presser, as he spoke to the media about various topics including the injury to Terry, Cesc Fabregas and his form and Klopp himself.
The former Juventus boss stated that he expects a strong match against Liverpool. Very tough. He says the Reds play with high intensity. He added that his team must pay great attention to their opponents.
John Terry should be available 10 days after his injury was diagnosed. David Luiz will play tomorrow. He added that he knows that David Luiz is a good player and he expects him to play well.
Talking about the Kop boss he stated, “Jurgen Klopp is one of the best managers in the world and is showing that capacity at Liverpool.”
He added that he only knows Klopp a little bit and only played one of his teams in the pre-season this summer.
Further talking about Fabregas he added that the way that the former Arsenal and Barcelona man is training is making his team selection difficult. Fabregas is a great player.
About his strikers, he added, “Diego Costa’s three yellow cards are not a worry. He says the player is growing in this situation, as seen at Swansea. Diego Costa is an important player but he also has a player who can show great quality – Michy Batshuayi. Ruben Loftus-Cheek as a good alternative up front.”
Concluding with a thought about summer signing Marcos Alonso, Conte said that he is seeing good things from Marcos Alonso in training. He would be ready to play tomorrow if needed. Conte further pointed to the Leicester cup game next Tuesday as a good opportunity for Alonso.
