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Chelsea and Liverpool will go head to head for the second time this week and the Blues hold the bragging rights after coming back from behind to win 2-1 at Anfield courtesy of a memorable solo goal from Eden Hazard.
The Reds will be eager to extract revenge at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night in this top of the table clash, and Jurgen Klopp will recall his key players in a bid to make seven wins in as many Premier League games.
In the EFL Cup game, one former Chelsea player started for Liverpool, another one came off the bench, and there was one more former Chelsea player left on Liverpool’s bench. In addition to those three players, there is one more former Blues player on Liverpool’s books.
So, take a look at the four former Chelsea players who are currently part of Liverpool’s first team setup.
#4 Rhian Brewster
Rhian Brewster is yet to make his first-team debut for Liverpool, although he made the bench at the end of the 2016/17 season.
Brewster was part of Chelsea’s academy before joining Liverpool’s academy aged 14. The teenager was signed by the Reds following the recommendation of Michael Beale who managed the player at Chelsea before moving to Liverpool.
Brewster won the Golden Boot at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India with eight goals as England won the tournament. He also won the Bronze Ball for the tournament’s third best player. He scored 20 goals in 22 games for the Three Lions at the U-17 level.
The 18-year-old was linked with a move to Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach in the summer, after Jadon Sancho successfully broke into Borussia Dortmund’s first team. However, Liverpool were keen on keeping the player.
Eventually, Brewster signed a new contract in the summer as Jurgen Klopp believes the player has a future with the Liverpool senior side. He is currently out injured but once he’s back from the injury, it may not be long before he breaks into the first team like Trent Alexander-Arnold.
#3 Dominic Solanke
Dominic Solanke is another Chelsea academy product who joined Liverpool.
Solanke made his debut for Chelsea’s first team in 2014 as a substitute in a Champions League game against Maribor, and this made him the youngest player to debut for Chelsea in the Champions League. However, that was his only ever appearance for the Blues.
Solanke was highly impressive for Chelsea’s youth teams and spent the 2015/16 season on loan at Vitesse, scoring seven times.
At the end of the 2016/17 season, he opted against signing a new contract at Chelsea owing to lack of playing time and joined Liverpool. In the same summer, he won the Golden Ball at the FIFA U-20 World Cup as England were crowned champions.
Solanke played 27 games for Liverpool in his debut season but scored only once. He is currently the club’s third choice striker behind Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge, which means his playing time is severely limited.
Still only 21, Solanke may have a long-term future at Anfield, but a move away from the club on loan may be necessary for the player.
#2 Daniel Sturridge
Liverpool’s second, third and fourth choice strikers are all former Chelsea players.
Daniel Sturridge started and scored in Liverpool’s recent 1-2 defeat to Chelsea in the League Cup. Despite being the second choice striker, the Englishman has three goals to his name this season with each goal coming in a different competition.
Sturridge joined Liverpool in January 2013 from the Blues and hit the ground running. He scored 11 goals in 16 games in the second half of the 2012/13 season and a further 24 in 33 games in the 2013/14 season. He even scored a late equalizing goal in his first game against Chelsea after joining Liverpool.
The 29-year-old’s Liverpool career has been marred with injuries, but Sturridge has visibly put in a lot of effort over the summer and this is the fittest he has looked in many years. He was easily Liverpool’s best player in pre-season with five goals and has carried that form forward.
#1 Mohamed Salah
The last player in this list is the only one Chelsea might regret losing.
Chelsea signed Mohamed Salah from under Liverpool’s nose in January 2014, but the Egyptian was used as a backup to the likes of Eden Hazard, Willian and André Schürrle. He played 19 games for the Blues in the league, scoring twice, before departing on loan to Fiorentina and later to Roma.
Salah joined Roma permanently in 2016 and after two impressive seasons in the Italian capital, he returned to the Premier League with Liverpool in 2017.
Many questions were raised of Salah’s ability to cope with the Premier League after a poor first stint with Chelsea, but he blew his critics out of the water with a record-breaking debut season for the Reds.
The Egyptian scored 44 goals in 52 games in 2017/18 including 32 in the league to break the record for the most goals scored by a player in a 38-game Premier League season.
His impressive performances for both club and country placed him third in both the UEFA Player of the Year and the Best FIFA Men’s Player of the Year awards.
Imagine Chelsea with Eden Hazard on the left wing and Mohamed Salah on the right wing?
