Premier League: Heavyweights collide at Anfield

With the international break over, Premier League football returns and Monday morning’s showdown between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield is the pick of the fixtures.

Both sides have new managers in the dugout, with Arne Slot taking over from the great Jurgen Klopp at Anfield and Enzo Maresca replacing Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

The Reds and the Blues have enjoyed positive starts to the season, with just one Premier League defeat for each team so far, and now a mouth-watering contest awaits on Merseyside.

. What: Liverpool v Chelsea
. Where: Anfield, Liverpool
. When: 01:30 (AEST), Monday 21st October
. How to watch: Optus Sport
. Odds: Liverpool 1.65, Draw 4.10, Chelsea 5.00

Reds leading the way

Sitting top of the Premier League table after the first seven rounds of fixtures, Slot has hit the ground running in one of the biggest jobs in world football.

Barring a shock defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest, the Reds have looked solid, with the foundation being the return of a strong defence to the Merseyside outfit.

Conceding just two goals in seven Premier League games is a remarkable record and is one of the reasons why Liverpool are 1.65 favourites to overcome Chelsea on Monday morning.

The last time these sides met at Anfield was back in January, with Liverpool running out 4-1 winners in their Premier League clash thanks to goals from Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz.

Diaz is Liverpool’s leading goalscorer in the league this season and the Colombian is 2.75 in the anytime goalscorer market and 7.00 to score the opening goal of the game.

Blues looking to make a statement

There have certainly been signs of progress from Chelsea under Maresca, with the Italian seemingly getting a grip on a bloated squad at Stamford Bridge.

Making tough decisions and cutting a number of players adrift, the former Leicester City boss appears to be forming a solid core of stars he can rely on.

Cole Palmer continues to be the star man for the Blues, with the England international scoring six Premier League goals already this term.

The former Manchester City player is 3.20 in the anytime goalscorer market for Monday’s clash at Anfield, while he’s 8.50 to bag the opener.

This game has produced plenty of stalemates in recent years, with seven of the last nine meetings between these sides in all competitions ending in draws.

Between August 2021 and August 2023 these sides met on seven occasions and all those games ended in draws.

Another stalemate at Anfield this time around is available at 4.10, while Chelsea to put a real marker down and earn a win at Liverpool is currently 5.00.