The Reds take on Chelsea at Anfield today, hoping to knock the favourites off course and get their own title bid back on track
Venue: Anfield
Kick off: 12:45
Liverpool welcome Chelsea back to Anfield for the first time since Chelsea’s 2-0 win over them at the climax of last season, which saw their title hopes slip away. Rodgers and his side will be eager to avenge last season’s result and close the twelve-point gap separating them from their visitors.
Despite being aged 34, Steven Gerrard has covered more ground than any other Liverpool player, including his energetic midfield partner Jordan Henderson, and over the course of his first ten games has clocked up a total distance of 107.4km, averaging out at 10.74km per game. This distance also ranks as the fourteenth highest distance covered in the Premier League, with all those above him being younger than him. Gerrard is also one of only two Liverpool outfield players to have played in every minute of the Premier League. Gerrard is 21/2 to score first with 888sport.
The only other outfield player to have played every minute so far is Dejan Lovren. The defender has made 101 clearances so far this season, the most in the Liverpool squad and the third most in the Premier League, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, meaning he has averaged over ten clearances per game.
So far this season, only Raheem Sterling has completed more dribbles (28) than Philippe Coutinho (14) in the Liverpool squad, with the Brazilian having a considerably less amount of playing time. To put it in to context, Sterling has successfully completed a dribble approximately every 29 minutes, with Coutinho every 33 minutes on average, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Chelsea come in to this game off the back of a 2-1 home win over QPR and are still unbeaten, having only dropped points at the two Manchester sides’ grounds. Jose Mourinho will be hoping to get one over his former apprentice again this Saturday at Anfield, but it is likely to be a very tight affair.
Eden Hazard scored his third Premier League goal of the season, dispatching his seventeenth successful penalty from seventeen attempts in the Premier League. The Belgian winger also added a further six dribbles to his total for the season, meaning he has now completed 54 successful dribbles over the first ten games, 24 more than the next closest, Alexis Sanchez. Hazard is 6/1 to score first with 888sport.
Nemanja Matic has been the first name on the teamsheet for Jose Mourinho this year, completing every minute of Premier League football – and it is easy to see why. The imposing Serb has made the fifth most tackles of any player in the entire division, successfully dispossessing the opponent on 36 separate occasions this season, according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Matic has also covered the fourth most ground in the division, running 11.72km per game on average.
There is one player in the Chelsea squad who has run further than this however. Matic’s midfield partner, Cesc Fabregas, has covered an average distance of 11.85km per game, which ranks him third in the division. Combined with Fabregas’ passing ability, he could well offer a big threat to Liverpool this Saturday. The Spaniard has completed 469 passes in the opposition half, which is the most of any Premier League player, and as such he has been rewarded with nine assists, again the greatest total of any Premier League player according to the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index.
Data supplied by the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. Select and manage your own team of stars with at http://fantasy.
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