The recent match between Liverpool and Chelsea has become the hottest rivalry in the Premier League. The title and top four races will be decided by conference.
There was fierce competition for the final cup spot at home and in Europe, with the trophy awarded after a major clash between the two. The same is true after the pair advanced to the Carabao Cup final in February.
Whether it’s Fernando Torres moving from Liverpool to Chelsea or Steven Gerrard not happy to go the other way, transfers have sparked controversy.
Unforgettable incidents such as Luis Garcia’s fantastic goal, Luis Suarez biting Branislav Ivanovic and Gerrard’s mistake became legendary after the head-to-head match.
With 24 meetings between the two clubs between 2004 and 2009, the title was somewhat ugly. Nowadays, the competition is not as fierce as it used to be. Currently, the states are not at a high level with each other.
Liverpool compete for the biggest trophies and have beaten Chelsea in three finals in recent years – the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, the 2022 Carabao Cup and the FA Cup final.
Meanwhile, Manchester City, along with Manchester United and Everton, have become Liverpool’s biggest rivals in the Premier League.
But with Liverpool joining Chelsea and facing an uncertain future, they will soon be back on the same page. Chelsea are already entering a new era, influenced by ownership changes and the resulting transfer philosophies.
It came before the departure of Roman Abramovich and the arrival of the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital consortium, which is now in charge of Stamford Bridge.
As in Abramovic’s time, a lot of money was spent on transfers. Unlike Abramovich, most of the money spent was for the future, not the present, and the results were not immediate. Since the Russian first arrived in London in 2003, Chelsea have finished runners-up and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in his first season.
They won the league title for the first time in 50 years and the following season also won the Carabao Cup with a win over Jose Mourinho’s Liverpool. Chelsea finished 10th last season, but they forgot their new owners in the first season and have had a difficult time this season as well.
While there have been recent achievements such as improved form and progress to the Carabao Cup final, there is still not enough evidence to ensure that past glory will be restored and the team will return to their prime.
Liverpool have had a lot of fun with Jurgen Klopp’s men since Klopp arrived in October 2015. All possible trophies have been won at least once before the Europa League. The group managed to finish this season safely with Liverpool in the last 16 of this year’s competition.There have been many memorable events, winning teams and the incredible links with Liverpool that Klopp has forged.
However, he will not play at Anfield from next season after announcing his intention to step down at the end of the season last week. The captain would not be the first, with Virgil van Dijk publicly suggesting that some of his back-line members and even his players are unsure whether they will remain with the company after Klopp’s departure.
Suddenly, Liverpool will now be as obscure as Chelsea have been for the past two seasons. The reasons vary, but the impact of the changes at Anfield is likely to be as big as at Stamford Bridge. There are many talented and exciting managers to replace Klopp, the most famous of which is Xabi Alonso, who is on his way to the top of the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.
As good as he is, he is not Klopp and it will take him some time to adjust to this new path. Liverpool will hope that this process does not take as long as it did for Chelsea. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s attempts to return to the days when they depended so much on a meeting with Liverpool continue.
