Chelsea face a tough opening game against Liverpool (Picture: Getty)
New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino begins his reign at Stamford Bridge with an incredibly tough baptism of fire.
There’s little doubt the Argentinian is a superb coach but if there’s a soft underbelly to his managerial make-up, it’s his lack of success against the biggest clubs.
That includes an underwhelming record against Liverpool, who roll into the King’s Road on Sunday for a barnstorming opener to the new campaign.
Poch has suffered nine defeats in 16 matches against the Anfield outfit and two of just three victories against the Reds were way back when as he was cutting his teeth in the Premier League with Southampton.
Throw into the mix the unfortunate knee injury which has sidelined £52million forward Christopher Nkunku, who is expected to provide some of the answer to Chelsea’s chronic lack of goals last season, and it’s clear Poch’s preparations for the big match have been hindered.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has transfer issues of his own and the Reds failed to qualify for the Champions League last term. The pressure is on to force their way into the top four this time around and it’s a similar story for Chelsea, who wound up in 12th place last season and closer to the bottom three than Brentford in ninth.
Both clubs need to show drastic improvement and although this is the first game of the long 2023/24 haul it is a huge match neither side will want to lose as a fast start to build morale is imperative.
Liverpool’s dynamic attack featuring Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz gives them the edge, especially with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alexis Mac Allister weighing in with quality support, and if they click it could be a long afternoon for the Blues.
The Reds are 11/8 with Paddy Power to return to Merseyside with maximum points while Salah is 5/1 with the same firm to open the scoring and 13/8 to find the net at any time.
Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling will be pulling out all the stops to score against his old club and is 13/5 with Paddy Power to get on the scoreboard for the hosts, while Alexander-Arnold is 11/4 with them to provide an assist and the visitors are evens to score over 1.5 goals.
Meanwhile, Manchester City can make a flying start to the new season by beating Premier League newcomers Burnley at Turf Moor by over two goals at 5/2 with Paddy Power. They also have Kevin De Bruyne chalked up at 10/11 to provide an assist which looks this weekend’s best bet.
• Al Aasy, an impressive winner for trainer William Haggas last time out at Newbury, is the 15/8 favourite with William Hill for the Group Three Rose of Lancaster Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.
• Wales, fresh from a 20-9 victory over England in Cardiff last weekend, are 19/10 to win with a 5.5-point start in Betway’s handicap market when the two nations lock horns again at Twickenham.
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Chelsea and Liverpool are both looking for a fast start.