Liverpool vs Chelsea Predicton: Reds to see off Maresca’s men at Anfield

Liverpool could be overtaken in the Premier League by Arsenal and/or Manchester City by the time their Sunday afternoon (16:30, Sky Sports Main Event) clash with Chelsea at Anfield rolls around, but any victory over the Blues would ensure that the Reds reclaim top spot ahead of next weekend's showdown with the Gunners.

Below you can find my Liverpool vs Chelsea prediction, complete with all the latest team news and match odds, as Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca face each other as managers for the first time.

Team News

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was taken off injured towards the latter stages of their 1-0 win at Crystal Palace before the international break and the Brazilian has been ruled out for the rest of October, opening up an opportunity for deputy Caoimhin Kelleher, who has terrific memories of facing Chelsea after starring against them in the 2022 Carabao Cup Final.

Three more changes are expected to the starting XI with Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz likely to return down the left-hand side in place of Kostas Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo, and Dominik Szoboszlai set to take the place of Curtis Jones in midfield.

Robertson will join Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in defence with Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai forming the midfield three.

In attack, Mohamed Salah and Diaz will likely flank Diogo Jota, meaning Darwin Nunez will have to settle for a place on the substitutes bench again.

Federico Chiesa missed Liverpool's last two games with an unspecified injury and wasn't called up for Italy over the international break so remains a doubt for this weekend's game, as is Wataru Endo after illness ruled him out of Japan's 1-1 draw with Australia on Wednesday.

Jones departed the England national team camp for the birth of his child but should be back in the Liverpool squad on Sunday, leaving the injured Harvey Elliott as the only confirmed absentee for the visit of Chelsea.

Football Odds

Maresca has a fully-fit squad for the first time but Blues defenders Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana are suspended for Sunday after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the Premier League campaign in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last time out. Renato Veiga is likely to deputise at left-back for Cucurella, while Tosin Adarabioyo is primed to start at centre-back alongside Levi Colwill with Robert Sanchez in goal and Malo Gusto at right-back.

The rest of the side could stay as it is with a midfield pairing of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo behind a front four of Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho and Nicolas Jackson.

Joao Felix, Pedro Neto, Romeo Lavia and Pedro Neto are all options to start if Maresca does decide to shake things up.

Liverpool vs Chelsea Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Liverpool vs Chelsea page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this match.

Liverpool are 4/6 to chalk up a 10th win in 11 games under Slot on Sunday, giving the Reds an implied win probability of 60%, while Chelsea are 18/5, or a 21.7% chance, to keep up their perfect record on the road. The draw, meanwhile, is available at 7/2, with both teams to score and over 3.5 total goals at 4/9 and 1/1 respectively.

Salah (11/10) leads the anytime goalscorer market followed by Jota (13/10), Diaz and Nunez (both 7/5), with Palmer (2/1) shortest priced for the Blues.

Match Result & Both Teams to Score - Liverpool Win & Yes @ 8/5

A tough one to call this, considering Liverpool are top of the table and flying under Slot, while Chelsea are seven games unbeaten under Maresca and haven't lost in the Premier League since an opening weekend defeat to Manchester City.

The Blues have been brilliant on the road, thrashing Wolves (2-6) and West Ham United (0-3) either side of a slender victory over Bournemouth (0-1), but Anfield is a whole different experience and the west London side haven't won a league game there in front of spectators since November 2014 when Gary Cahill and Diego Costa cancelled out Emre Can's early opener.

This could also well be Slot's biggest test of his early Reds tenure so far after a relatively kind fixture list so far that has seen the Dutchman claim six wins from his first seven Premier League matches, the only blip being a home defeat to Nottingham Forest on September 14.

Impressively, Liverpool have conceded just twice so far, keeping five clean sheets, but they haven't had to face the might of Palmer & co. yet.

After losing 2-0 at home to Manchester City on August 18, Chelsea have embarked on a 10-game scoring run that has seen them rack up 28 goals across all competitions, with Palmer (six) and Jackson (four) providing 10 of their 16 league goals in that time.

It's a big ask to expect Liverpool to record another shutout on Sunday, and I would be surprised if the Blues didn't get on the scoresheet in L4.

However, it would also be a shock were the Reds not to find the back of the net as only Forest have been able to stop them from doing so up to this point, while Chelsea haven't kept a clean sheet in their last three games, conceding twice to Brighton and Gent and once to Forest.

A score draw could be on the cards here, but the power of Anfield might just see the hosts through to a victory, with the changes to the Blues' backline also likely to help them in their quest for three points.

Anytime Goalscorer - Trent Alexander-Arnold (LIV) @ 7/1

A longer shot here, but Alexander-Arnold does have history with Chelsea, scoring against the Blues home and away in Liverpool's Premier League title-winning campaign in 2019/20; in fact, Manchester City, Leicester City and Fulham are the only clubs he has scored against as many times as Chelsea.

The 26-year-old is yet to get off the mark for his beloved Reds this season, seeing an effort against Manchester United at Old Trafford ruled out for offside by the Var, but he did score in England's 3-1 victory over Finland in Helsinki last Sunday, firing a fantastic free-kick past Bayer Leverkusen's Lukas Hradecky. Has he got his eye in now?

Alexander-Arnold's first goal against Chelsea was pretty much a free-kick as Salah teed it off for him to score at Stamford Bridge, while his only Anfield strike versus the Blues was a direct free-kick.

The Liverpool vice-captain is averaging 1.1 shots per Premier League game this term and has only failed to take a shot in wins over Man United and Bournemouth.

At 7/1, I think he's worth backing to find the net anytime on Sunday after the confidence boost of last weekend's goal for the Three Lions.