Chelsea will have a massive task at hand on Saturday when they visit Anfield to play Liverpool in the Premier League.
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Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is looking forward to the battle between their new signing Romelu Lukaku and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk when both teams face each other on Saturday. In the new Premier League season, both teams have started impressively, winning their opening two games. Notably, both sides have collected six points from their opening two matches, while scoring five goals and conceding zero. With the Blues set to visit Anfield, the manager has cautioned that Liverpool will be a different proposition to the team they beat on Merseyside in March. Back then, the Reds were without their defensive duo of van Dijk and Joel Matip. They both have featured this term as the Reds beat Norwich City and Burnley without conceding.
“That’s the reality and we should not hide from it,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website ahead of the team’s Anfield visit. “Liverpool with Van Dijk is a different Liverpool than without Van Dijk. It’s not only his isolated capacity and level of performance but also that he makes everyone around him feel more comfortable and be stronger. Together with Matip, it is a huge upgrade to last March, and spectators back at Anfield can be a big factor as well. You will not be able to hear yourself or maybe communicate as easily as it was without spectators so it is harder to maybe escape pressure in tight situations.”
“We also feel very confident because we know each other now longer and longer,” Thomas Tuchel stated. “We had some good experiences together and I have the feeling that we are ready for a fight on that level.”
Lukaku started his second spell with the Blues on a dominant note, producing a stellar performance at the Emirates last weekend, scoring one and crashing a header onto the crossbar. Saturday’s clash will see Lukaku coming against van Dijk. “I’m looking forward it and I think many fans of football are looking forward to that battle,” he added. “It’s not only Van Dijk against Lukaku, it will be Liverpool against Chelsea, but of course for Romelu it’s a big challenge.
“He had now one match with us which was pretty impressive and a very good start so from now on we are into details, to adapting and to connecting better and better. The stress test is on tomorrow at Anfield and we will see but when we signed him we knew he was a very experienced player in terms of big matches.
“He loves these kind of games and that’s why I expect the best that we can see from him right now. I am not sure if he has already reached top level, maybe not because he has only one game in his legs, but hopefully he will have a good match tomorrow because he’s a tough competitor and he loves to play in these kind of matches against a strong opponent.”
Thomas Tuchel also admitted that a visit to Anfield will be one of his toughest assignments. “Any time when you play at Anfield against Liverpool, it’s one of the toughest challenges that you can face in European football,” he added. “After that, you’re much smarter about where you are and what your true capacity and performance is.
“It’s like this tomorrow. We had a good start and Liverpool had a good start so tomorrow we will fight from the first minute to get a good result but it will be a huge challenge. No result will be a decision for the season but of course we are fighting because these are the challenges where we want to prove ourselves.”
