Chelsea vs Liverpool: The five key battles that will determine which team wins

Vaishali Bhardwaj30 October 2015

Defending Premier League champions Chelsea host Liverpool in a crucial clash on Saturday with the Blues looking to bounce back from a difficult seven days.

Jose Mourinho's side not only lost their fifth league match of the season against high-flying West Ham last weekend, but the defeat was followed up by FA misconduct charges for the club, the manager and his assistant Silvino Louro.

Chelsea were then eliminated from the Capital One Cup, a competition they won in March, by Stoke City on penalties which has left their clash with Jurgen Klopp's side a must-win - for the players' morale as well as the team's league position.

The Blues' opponents, Liverpool, have seen several players and a new manager arrive at Anfield since the last time they played Chelsea, and the likes of James Milner and Nathaniel Clyne are expected to start on Saturday.

The latter is one player that will certainly be boosted ahead of the match after his goal handed Liverpool victory in the League Cup, but Clyne will now be tasked with the job of keeping Eden Hazard quiet at Stamford Bridge.

While one would expect the Reds full-back to feel confident against a player who has largely disappointed this season, questions remain about how the likes of Martin Skrtel, Alberto Moreno, Philippe Coutinho and Christian Benteke will do against Diego Costa, Willian, Nemanja Matic and John Terry respectively.

We take a closer look at how these individual battles may well decide the winner of Chelsea's game with Liverpool on Saturday.

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