Chelsea travel to Anfield on Saturday to play Liverpool, but Calum McFarlane said key players will be missing after the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Monday.
The numbers underline the scale of Chelsea’s problem: Monday’s 3-1 reverse extended their losing streak to six Premier League games and the club have scored one goal in that run — João Pedro’s late consolation against Nottingham Forest. McFarlane confirmed Robert Sánchez will not be available after the injury he sustained in that match, and said Jesse Derry will miss the remainder of the season following the head injury he picked up against Forest.
At Cobham on Thursday McFarlane offered a mixed update on the squad, using both caution and a flicker of encouragement. He said, “Neto and Garnacho are carrying knocks, so it’s looking unlikely that they’re going to be available. Rob is also not going to be available after the injury that he sustained.” He added: “The early signs with Jesse are very positive and I spoke to his dad [Shaun] after the Forest game,” and then delivered the blunt assessment: “Jesse won’t be available for us now until the end of the season, which is an abrupt end for him, but he showed in that first half what he can bring to the team.”
The injury picture is complicated by a few returns. “We’ve got a few lads returning,” McFarlane said, and was clearer on two names: “Levi has trained a full week with us, and so has Reece, so it’s really positive with those two.” He repeated that both “trained fully today and we’re hopeful [that they could start],” after Levi Colwill made his season debut as a second-half substitute against Nottingham Forest and played 45 minutes.
Why this matters today is straightforward: Liverpool sit fourth in the Premier League and need four points from their remaining three games to be certain of a top-five finish. They arrive at Anfield after a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday but have still won three of their last four league games and hold a six-point buffer over the chasing pack. For Chelsea, whose last win in the league dates back beyond this run, Saturday is the kind of fixture that will either expose their frailties or, improbably, arrest their slide.
The history adds salt to the tension. Chelsea beat Liverpool 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in October, yet Liverpool have won the last two meetings between the clubs at Anfield, and home form has mattered. That record — plus Liverpool’s present need for points and Chelsea’s six-game losing streak and single goal over that period — frames the clash as heavily weighted in Liverpool’s favour.
The contradiction at the heart of the game is personnel versus momentum. Chelsea are thin: Jamie Gittens and Estêvão were already ruled out and McFarlane says Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho are “carrying knocks” and “unlikely” to play. Yet the returns of Reece James and Levi Colwill, if they do start, give Chelsea pieces they lacked while the rest of the squad struggles for rhythm and goals.
Given the evidence on form and fitness, Liverpool go into this liverpool vs chelsea fixture with the clearer path to the result they need; Chelsea’s combination of injuries and a pronounced scoring drought makes a surprise at Anfield unlikely. The decisive question after Saturday will be whether Chelsea can stop the slide now, or whether their run of six defeats will be extended while Liverpool close in on top-five security.
