Chelsea - Liverpool: Great battle of bad teams

Chelsea and Liverpool just had a bad weekend, when they both failed. Chelsea lost to Aston Villa right at Stamford Bridge, causing coach Graham Potter to be sacked after 206 days leading the team. Former Brighton defender Bruno Saltor will act as Chelsea's interim manager against Liverpool, while the team looks for a replacement for Potter.

"Chelsea just had a sad day with Potter and his assistant Billy Reid," Saltor said in a pre-match press conference. "They brought me to Chelsea and they were all very good. But now I have to be professional and help the team as much as I can."

Spanish Saltor, played seven seasons for Brighton and worked as Potter's colleague there. He joined the Chelsea coaching staff with Potter, but was not fired with the English coach. "The owners trust me to help young players with my experience," added Saltor.

Liverpool's situation is not better, when they have lost all of their last three matches in all competitions. The gap between them with the top 4 has been widened to eight points, while they have to meet Chelsea and Arsenal in the next few days. Another point is that coach Jurgen Klopp is in no danger of being sacked, although he has repeatedly criticized Liverpool players after each bad result this season.

Klopp believes that Chelsea players will be more motivated after changing the coach. "Like how Bayern Munich reacted in the 4-2 win over Dortmund, right after changing the general," said the German coach. "Chelsea will want to bounce back, and they will also bring back some players like N'Golo Kante."

Kante was a substitute in the match against Aston Villa, ending eight months of being out of the hospital. Centre-back Wesley Fofana, midfielder Mason Mount and forward Raheem Sterling could also return to bring a breath of fresh air to the 11th-placed team in the Premier League.

This is the latest time in a season when Chelsea play in the second half of the scoreboard, since the 1995-1996 season when they finished 11th against Tottenham in the penultimate round. Only a victory will help Chelsea return to the top half of the scoreboard, but that means the opportunity for Liverpool to participate in the Champions League is considered to be gone.

Despite having to be a guest, Liverpool is still more appreciated with the ability to win more than 40%, compared to Chelsea 31%. Liverpool have also won all of their last nine matches in the Premier League when they have to play in the middle of the week, while Chelsea have won only three of the 13 games played at this point.

Liverpool still lack midfield pillars like Thiago Alcantara or Naby Keita because of injury. Striker Luis Diaz has returned to practice with his teammates but is not fit enough to play. In attack, Klopp will have to decide whether to use Darwin Nunez or Roberto Firmino for the central striker position.

The ability to attack is Chelsea's weakness this season, when they have only scored 29 goals in 28 matches, the number is 13th in the league. Liverpool's attack is doing well again, scoring the fifth most in the league, averaging 1.8 goals per game, although still lower than the 2.5 goals last season. Striker Mohamed Salah is still in form with 23 goals in 40 games in all competitions, although he is less mentioned than in recent seasons.

Sportsmole or Givemesport both predict that the two teams will draw 1-1, while Hardtackle thinks Chelsea will win 2-1. Either way, the two teams will still try to earn points to keep their hopes up for the European Cup next season, or regain the image of the former Premier League kings.