Paul Merson urges Arne Slot to make one key change to his Liverpool team in order to beat Chelsea

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool will be gearing up to face Chelsea in their Premier League clash on Saturday evening.

The Reds will be looking to get back to winning ways after getting beaten by Crystal Palace and Galatasaray in their last two outings.

Of course, every team is allowed to have a blip once in a while, but the fact that one has come this early into the season for Liverpool is a slight cause for concern.

Indeed, they still have plenty of time to turn things around and ensure that they keep their place at the top of the table, but if Chelsea beat them on Saturday, some serious questions will need to be asked.

Arne Slot will be looking towards several of his first-team regulars to make the difference, with Paul Merson now sharing who he thinks must start for the Anfield outfit.

Paul Merson thinks Liverpool should revert to last season’s midfield three

This summer, the Reds’ midfield was the most untouched area in the transfer market.

Liverpool brought in two attackers and three defenders in the summer, whereas only Florian Wirtz was brought in as a midfielder.

Since then, Slot has tried his level best to get Wirtz involved in the Reds’ play, but at the moment, he seems way out of his depth.

With this in mind, while writing his weekly predictions for Sports Keeda, Merson shared that he thinks Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister all have to start against the Blues.

“I’ve been saying that Liverpool should play Florian Wirtz down the left side, but I didn’t expect them to do that against Crystal Palace,” he wrote.

“I was surprised because Palace have strong wing-backs and they are quite phenomenal. But against Chelsea, it could be a good option since the Blues’ defence isn’t very solid.

“I still think Slot will go with Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak and Mo Salah as the front-three though. Chelsea have a strong midfield with Moises Caicedo in there, so Liverpool must play Gravenberch, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai through the middle.

“I also expect Milos Kerkez to retain his place at left-back even though Andy Robertson is the better defender out of the two.

“I just think Robertson isn’t a good fit for this game since he could be up against Neto. Conor Bradley should also be an automatic selection at right-back for Liverpool.

“Liverpool are playing badly, but I just don’t see them losing this game. I’d be shocked if Chelsea won too, but the hosts could get a point here in my opinion.”

Liverpool must get back to winning ways on Saturday

If Liverpool don’t manage to beat Chelsea on Saturday, it’ll be a massive fall from grace after their first few games of the season.

At the moment, it’s unclear who Slot is going to choose to start the game aside from the fact that Giorgi Mamardashvili will be making his Premier League debut.

The Georgian ‘keeper will be looking to make a good impression on the Reds’ fans after Alisson was ruled out with an injury until after the international break.

This means that, for now at least, it’s unclear how the game will pan out with both clubs wanting to add another three points to their Premier League totals.