Liverpool vs. Chelsea: League Cup 2026-27 Preview & Team News
· Yahoo Sports
LIVERPOOL VS. CHELSEA
| Wednesday, October 28th |
League Cup, Fourth Round | Anfield
8PM BST/4PM EST
In this cursed timeline Chelsea are rocking up to Anfield with Xabi Alonso and Jordan Henderson onboard. The former Liverpool star has yet to win at Anfield as a manager, losing 4-0 with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 and 1-0 with Real Madrid last year. In this one, Henderson could well start alongside former target Moisés Caicedo to provide some experience in what will likely be a quite youthful team, though the duo did not cover themselves in glory last time out.
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Chelsea have their own minor injury issues ahead of Wednesday: notably, João Pedro is unavailable for this one. With that said, Chelsea’s strategy of buying loads of especially young players put them in the driver’s seat here when it comes to squad options. Indeed, the structure of buying means this competition is surely one for Chelsea to target, and that they are not in Europe this season makes their rest and depth contrast all the more starkly with Liverpool’s.
In the place of João Pedro, for example, we might well see a debut for Emmanuel Emegha, a promising attacker who has yet to feature for Chelsea due to injury. Danny Welbeck, who you may have heard of, is available for Chelsea’s attack on the other side of experience, and Morgan Rogers had a go at striker at the weekend (which, granted, did not go well).
Emi Martínez is sidelined with a broken jaw, though rotation at goalkeeper was always likely in this competition. Reece James remains on the long-term injury list. Mike Penders, a 21-year-old Belgian, is liable to start in goal in what will be his second full match for Chelsea. His first was one to forget: shipping two against a Tottenham side at home in what many deemed a horror show in the net. Liverpool will want to have their shooting boots on to try to take advantage of any dips in confidence that could result.
Given his rather unprofessional red card against Tottenham, Cole Palmer will be unavailable on Wednesday as suspensions carry across all domestic competitions (it’s just yellow card accumulation that is Premier League-specific).
Cole Palmer is one of four players that have featured in all 10 matches for Chelsea in all competitions this year, alongside Maxence Lacroix, Morgan Rogers, and Pedro Neto. Though Chelsea have the depth to rotate, their lack of European football means Alonso might not feel the need to shift personnel at the same level as Liverpool will.
It must be noted, also, that while Liverpool face Arsenal at the weekend, Chelsea are playing against relegation fodder at home as they host the struggling Manchester United on Halloween. They have less contextual challenges than Liverpool do on almost every count.
Predicted Liverpool Lineup (4-2-3-1)
Mamardashvili; Gomez, Araujo, Jacquet, Tsimikas; Gravenberch, Nyoni; Ngumoha, Wirtz, Gakpo; Koumas
Liverpool got an injury boost on the Florian Wirtz front, with the attacker declared “optimistic” on being fit and available for Wednesday’s cup tie. Andoni Iraola will thus weigh caution and rotation against letting an in-form Wirtz go again ahead of a massive top-of-the-table match at the weekend. Wednesday’s match will come too soon for Dominik Szoboszlai and Víctor Muñoz, both of whom will want to feature at the weekend. There has been no change on longer-term injuries, so we can expect no returning faces at Anfield on Wednesday.
Though Liverpool have no suspended players, Ronald Araujoor Miloš Kerkez are a yellow card away from suspension in this competition should Liverpool progress. As such, Kostas Tsimikas can expect to start on the left, but injuries elsewhere might see Araujo start despite the risk to allow for rest to either Virgil Van Dijk or Jérémy Jacquet. As well as likely rotation at goalkeeper, we can expect Joe Gomez to come in for one of the starting back four, as injuries to Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, and Giovanni Leoni make wholesale changes at the back unlikely. Should Van Dijk get a rest, Gomez could captain the side once again in this competition.
Trey Nyoni is almost nailed on to start this one given the injury to Szoboszlai, and Ryan Gravenberch is thus likely to start alongside him to add a continued bit of seniority alongside youth. Should Wirtz not be available, Alexis Mac Allister might make up the third in midfield, but it’s also worth noting that Wataru Endō is once again available and could be an unexpected midfield option, and James McConnell is available should more rotation, rather than less, be on the cards.
Iraola has options in attack, though Cody Gakpo getting more minutes in his legs feels likely as he returns to rhythm if not fitness. Bradley Barcola, Alexander Isak, Lewis Koumas, and Rio Ngumoha will want to be involved, and Federico Chiesa is available again as well should Iraola want to explore squad depth at the senior level. Many would love to see Jayden Danns feature here, but the young striker is not yet ready for first team action if we read between the lines of Iraola’s comments — though he did score on Saturday with the U21s to secure a 2-2 draw with tomorrow’s opponents. The Scouser has been on the bench in Europe, but is unlikely to feature yet based on Iraola’s comments. Lewis Koumas the most likely to start up front for the Reds on Wednesday, with Alexander Isak coming off the bench if needed.
The Managers Have Their Say
Andoni Iraola: “I think every competition is an opportunity, especially when you are the coach of Liverpool. You have to take it like this. I would love to win tomorrow and have the chance to get further in the competition. But I know that we have to play very well, we have to beat a very good team. It’s also a team that doesn’t play in Europe, so for sure for them this competition is also very important. So, it’s not going to be easy.”
Xabi Alonso (shiver): “Yes, we were not happy, for sure, with the result, with the performance [at the weekend]. It was a big game and there were many things that could have gone better. Details as well that were important. Reflection, but we moved on and now the focus is just on Liverpool.”
The Officials
Referee: Darren England Assistants: Goodjoblads Goodprocess Fourth Official: Craig Pawson VAR is not active at this stage of the competition
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