Liverpool Vs. Chelsea

• It\u2019s another top of the table clash so you know it\u2019s time for another extremely controversial combined XI. Thomas Tuchel has ruled Chelsea out of a title race and to be fair to him, he never actually discussed his side as a title contender. The Blues have accumulated a growing injury list in key positions and there\u2019s no one better placed to understand Chelsea\u2019s predicament than their Merseyside opponents in red. This combined XI gives a clue as to the differences in quality between the two sides. Considering Chelsea has many players unavailable, will this be Liverpool dominated? Let\u2019s see who gets into the Blues and Reds\u2019 combined XI:\nGoalkeeper: Edouard Mendy, Chelsea\nEdouard Mendy surpasses Alisson in many metrics this season except clean sheets. The Senegal international makes more saves per game (2.7) than Alisson (2.0) and saves a higher proportion of his shots faced in the Premier League, 78 percent to Alisson\u2019s 69 percent. Mendy has also conceded two less goals than Alisson in one more game played. Mendy\u2019s ability to claim crosses out of the air before they become a threat is perhaps second-to-none in the league. The height gives him an advantage over the Brazilian too. I bet you thought I\u2019d mention the Champions League trophy, eh?\n\n \n \n Related Story:\u00a0Not even Romelu Lukaku can save Chelsea from itself\n \n \n\n\nRight back: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool\nNo, it\u2019s not just because Reece James is injured either. Trent Alexander-Arnold has been at the highest level this season and has surpassed James in many important metrics. The talk about Alexander-Arnold being poor defensively is overblown. Liverpool has had more possession on average than Chelsea, yet Alexander-Arnold still beats James in interceptions and tackles per game. Alexander-Arnold has also won more possession in the final third and made more clearances. The Liverpool No. 66 also clears James in chance creation and goal involvements, creating 3.2 chances per game to James\u2019s 1.9. The Liverpool man has also created five more big chances in one more game, registering three more assists and overall one more goal involvement than his compatriot in blue.\nCenterback: Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool\nVirgil van Dijk got injured on matchday five of the 2020\/21 Premier League season, which set off a number of injuries that literally had Jurgen Klopp having to play central midfielders at centerback. Liverpool fought to claw its way into third place regardless. Van Dijk is back and truth be told, the Red have not looked as defensively formidable as they looked in the 2018\/19 season, but van Dijk has comfortably been one of the best centerbacks in the English top flight. He has won a whopping 70 percent of his duels, and Liverpool has not kept a clean sheet in the Premier League when he hasn\u2019t played.\nCenterback: Joel Matip, Liverpool\nJoel Matip has been one of the Premier League\u2019s most under-appreciated players in the past two seasons. He has been the reason van Dijk has been able to play his sweeper role comfortably, as he does most of the dirty work. It\u2019s easy to overlook anyone playing alongside the Dutch talisman, but Matip has silently worked hard and contributed tremendously to Liverpool\u2019s fortunes. He beats Antonio \u00a0Rudiger in long ball accuracy. He also beats out the German in duel success rate, and considering that Liverpool keeps more of the ball than Chelsea, Matip\u2019s interception and tackle numbers being higher than Rudiger\u2019s counts significantly.\nLeft back: Marcos Alonso, Chelsea\nMarcos Alonso performs slightly better than Konstantinos Tsimikas, so he gets into this team. Alonso wins 51 percent of his duels, compared to Tsimikas\u2019s 43 percent. The Spaniard also narrowly outperforms the Liverpool left back defensively, winning 67 percent of his tackles but also making as high as 1.9 interceptions per game. Tsimikas wins 87 percent of his tackles but only records 0.8 interceptions per game. Alonso makes slightly less key passes per game though, 1.6 to Tsimikas\u2019s 1.8, but both have registered two big chances each. Alonso has three goal involvements, Tsimikas has one. Alonso also records more passes into the final third per 90 compared to total passes per 90, but Tsimikas makes slightly more shot creating actions per 90.\n\n \n Next:\u00a02. Midfielders\n \n"},"title":"Chelsea vs Liverpool combined XI: Evenly split team in 4-3-3","permalink":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com\/2022\/01\/01\/chelsea-liverpool-combined-xi-split-team-4-3-3\/2\/","shortCodeTitle":null,"content":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tChelsea\u2019s French midfielder N\u2019Golo Kante runs with the ball during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on August 28, 2021. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS\/AFP via Getty Images)\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\nDefensive midfielder: Fabinho, Liverpool\nFabinho edges out his competitors in this one, as well. He beats out Jorginho in duels, 52 percent to Jorginho\u2019s 48 percent. He also edges Jorginho in the ball winning department, as he wins 52 percent of his tackles to the Italian\u2019s 50 percent. He makes way more interceptions per game than Jorginho though and that counts significantly.\nJorginho does beat the Brazilian in chance creation though, creating 0.8 chances per game to Fabinho\u2019s 0.6. He has created five big chances this season to Fabinho\u2019s one. Fabinho edges Jorginho in passing, as Jorginho has a slightly higher pass completion, according to fbref. Jorginho makes almost 10 more passes than Fabinho per game. The implication is that 12 percent of Fabinho\u2019s passes are into the final third, with 8 percent of his passes being progressive, compared to eight percent and eight percent of Jorginho\u2019s passes going into the final third and being progressive respectively. Fabinho also has a higher long ball accuracy, 57 percent to Jorginho\u2019s 54.\nCentral midfielder: Mateo Kovacic, Chelsea\nMateo Kovacic undoubtedly gets into this combined XI. His passing, dribbling and creation numbers are second-to-none of any of the central midfielders across both clubs. His off the ball work rate makes this even better, winning the ball in the final third the most out of all midfielders across both clubs. 11 percent of Kovacic\u2019s passes per 90 go into the final third and 10 percent of them are progressive.\nCentral midfielder: N\u2019Golo Kante, Chelsea\nN\u2019Golo Kante gets in simply by how good he has been this season and how good he has been over the years. The Frenchman is often mistaken for a defensive midfielder, yet Tuchel brought him on at halftime against Tottenham Hotspur and fixed Chelsea\u2019s attack; the Blues went on to win the game 3-0, after being tied at 0-0.\n\n \n Next:\u00a03. Forwards\n \n","title":"Chelsea vs Liverpool combined XI: Evenly split team in 4-3-3","permalink":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com\/2022\/01\/01\/chelsea-liverpool-combined-xi-split-team-4-3-3\/3\/","shortCodeTitle":null,"content":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tLIVERPOOL, ENGLAND \u2013 AUGUST 28: Thiago Silva and Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea interact during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield on August 28, 2021 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Michael Regan\/Getty Images)\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\nRight winger: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool\nMohamed Salah leads the Premier League in goals, assists, big chances created and goal involvements. It seemed the Egyptian peaked in the 2017\/18 season where he scored 32 league goals, but that doesn\u2019t seem even remotely true now. Salah created 12 big chances in the season he scored 32 league goals, this season he has already created 11. He had 10 assists in that season and he already has nine assists this season, all of this with 19 games still to play. He scored 0.86 goals per game over 36 games in that season, he\u2019s at 0.79 now, which is still insane. Salah is not just the best player in the league this season, he\u2019s the best player in world football, as he\u2019s dominating in all aspects in the final third: goals, assists and big chances created.\nStriker: Romelu Lukaku, Chelsea\nRomelu Lukaku makes it into this combined XI by being the only firing nominal center forward in both clubs. Lukaku has been out due to injury for a fairly long time and then when he came back from injury, he wasn\u2019t starting straightaway. The Chelsea fanbase is in turmoil now due to the comments from Lukaku\u2019s interview that were revealed. It is genius by whoever released it to choose to release it now. What better time to create an impression that your star player is at loggerheads with his manager after a draw that sees the club sit eight points behind the league leaders going into Christmas. It\u2019s perfect timing from Fabrizio Romano\u2019s point of view.\nLukaku just had an error of judgement in granting this interview because now it has created a messy situation that is extremely difficult to clean up. Lukaku doesn\u2019t owe Inter Milan fans any apology. It\u2019s his career, only he can decide the right time to move, and he doesn\u2019t owe anyone an explanation for moving. He has gotten to where he is by his own hard work and decisions, and he doesn\u2019t owe any club loyalty, he should stop granting interviews in the name of explaining anything to any clubs fans. Lukaku now needs to put his head down and keep working.\nLeft winger: Diogo Jota, Liverpool\nThe numbers don\u2019t lie and Diogo Jota has been exceptional this year. He beats Mason Mount and Sadio Mane to the spot in terms of goals scored, scoring more than the other two forwards at 10 goals. All three forwards interestingly have created six big chances this season. Many of the statistics between the three stars are quite similar, down to shot and goal creating actions.\n\n \n \n Next:\u00a0Tactics and Transfers special edition: Chaos at Chelsea pre-Liverpool\n \n \n\n\nWho makes your combined XI? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!"],"useSlideSources":true,"themeType":"classic","prevPost":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com\/2022\/01\/01\/tactics-transfers-special-chaos-chelsea-liverpool\/","nextPost":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com\/2022\/01\/01\/chelseas-winter-window-open\/","prevText":"Prev","nextText":"Next","buttonWidth":0,"buttonWidth_post":0,"postUrl":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com\/2022\/01\/01\/chelsea-liverpool-combined-xi-split-team-4-3-3\/","postId":96822,"refreshAds":true,"refreshAdsEveryNSlides":1,"adRefreshingMechanism":"javascript","siteUrl":"https:\/\/theprideoflondon.com","prevText_post":"Prev post","nextText_post":"Next post"};(function ($) $(document).ready(function () try tpsInstance = new tps.createSlideshow(tpsOptions); catch(e) );(jQuery)); (function () // create the elements and set all attributes:var conversationScript = document.createElement('script');conversationScript.setAttribute('async', 'true');conversationScript.setAttribute('src', ' _NmUXHpyU');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-spotim-module', 'spotim-launcher');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-post-url', ' -liverpool-combined-xi-split-team-4-3-3/');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-post-id', 'a95a5e2868b3df1031ab9add73db0aa0');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-spotim-multi-instance', true);conversationScript.setAttribute('data-article-tags', 'Chelsea');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-disqus-url', ' -liverpool-combined-xi-split-team-4-3-3/#!');conversationScript.setAttribute('data-disqus-identifier', '96822 =96822');// append the elements to the container:var container = document.querySelector('#comments-wrapper-96822');container.appendChild(conversationScript);)(); Top StoriesThe Pride of London 1 yearChelsea vs Liverpool score predictions: Mixed bag at the Bridge

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Liverpool vs. Chelsea

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