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Liverpool and Chelsea face up with each other in Istanbul for the clash of European title winners on Wednesday night. Chelsea lost their opening Premier League game by a 4-0 margin against Manchester United. Liverpool, who kicked the Premier League season off, defeated Norwich by a 4-1 margin at Anfield.
This will be Frank Lampard's first bid for silverware as the Chelsea coach. In last year's Supercup, Atletico Madrid defeated Real Madrid on the back of two extra-time strikes. Liverpool, who won the UEFA Champions League, are certainly heavy favorites to win the game. But on the other side, Chelsea are the one facing less pressure to win and that could help them perform with more freedom.
The weekend saw some inspired performances for Chelsea by Emerson and Mason Mount, while others like Kurt Zouma and Tammy Abraham are yet to get into their groove.
Let us look at five factors that could decide the game in Istanbul.
Liverpool's tactical approach
Jurgen Klopp is a great tactician and he would see this game as a silverware to win, but also on the back of his mind, there would be their next Premier League fixture. Liverpool only has a two-day gap before their next game, which is against Southampton away from home.
We have seen that Klopp is flexible and doesn't mind low-intensity, low block tactics, as he used against Tottenham in the UCL Final. If Klopp sticks to his Gegenpressing he can put Chelsea in a lot of trouble but playing that requires a high level of physical involvement. Playing that intensely in the Super Cup is possible for sure but there's no guarantee that it will be the approach.
Keeping in mind the away fixture on the weekend, also the pressure of being runaway favorites, it will be interesting to see Liverpool's approach and also their starting 11. Liverpool's 23-man squad includes youngsters Ki-Jana Hoever, Harvey Elliot, and also Rhian Brewster.
#4 Pedro Rodriguez's uncanny scoring ability in finals
There are players who have the inexplicable ability to step up at the right time. Pedro Rodriguez is one such player. He is not a goal-machine, yet, he manages to put the ball into the back of the net when it comes to the all-important occasions.
He scored a good goal against Arsenal in the Europa League Final. In 2009, he scored in all six major club competitions in Spain - LaLiga, UCL, UEFA Supercup, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. He is the only Spaniard with the aforementioned achievement.
He scored in the UEFA Champions League finals in 2011 at Wembley, when Barcelona defeated Manchester United by a 3-1 margin. Pedro opened the scoring for Barcelona. In the UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar in 2009, he scored late in extra time to win the title for Barcelona. He also scored in the 2009 Club World Cup Final, and also the UEFA Supercup Final against Sevilla in 2015 in extra-time.
Pedro has done enough in major matches his career to be called an X-Factor, which he will be in the game against Liverpool as well.
#3 Antonio Rudiger's presence on the pitch
Chelsea has been handed a lifeline with Willian's return to the squad. Lampard did say that Willian, Kante, and Rudiger are all 'fit but not necessarily match-fit'. Antonio Rudiger's presence on the pitch will be a huge boost for Chelsea. Kurt Zouma experienced a torrid time against Martial and Rashford in the Premier League game.
Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, and Firmino are a level above the Manchester United attack, in terms of chemistry and killer-instinct. One mistake and they swarm the area around the box like wolves on a prowl. If the defense is not solid and compact, which it wasn't against Manchester United, it won't take a blink for the Liverpool front-three to tear them apart.
Having a solid defender like Rudiger will be important for communication among the defense. Rudiger and Andreas Christensen are a pair that has played together, and in all means, better than the Christensen-Zouma pair. It's up to Frank Lampard to decide if Rudiger plays or not, but the Super Cup is the right place to test his on-pitch fitness. A defender suffering an immediate re-injury is not something common, but having said that, Lampard won't be naive enough to risk Rudiger either, when he has 37 league matches and at least 6 Champions League games ahead of him.
#2 Alisson's absence in front of the goal
Alisson Becker sustained an injury in the Premier League game against Norwich. His absence might not be very noticeable on paper. With Virgil van Dijk marshaling the defense, Joe Gomez alongside and Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the flanks and with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, all very capable in their defensive duties, Liverpool is a strong side at the back.
However, it isn't like teams don't get shots at them. Tottenham had a lot of shots on goal in the UCL final but they were denied for the grit of one man, Alisson. The Brazilian has also come up with important saves in a lot of other games.
Against Manchester United, Chelsea did get chances and they didn't capitalize on it. Emerson got a lot of shots which were parried away by David de Gea. Alisson might deal with dangerous shots but his replacement Adrian is a name hardly anyone has heard and is 32. The emergency backup keeper Andy Lonergan is 35.
Van Dijk has shown confidence in the backup keeper Adrian with but it's still a massive change from Alisson. No matter how much the Anfield faithful or van Dijk try to downplay this injury, Alisson is among the top three 'keepers in the world.
#1 Can Chelsea's youngsters relish the opportunity?
One good thing about Chelsea's transfer ban is their youngsters can get a chance at playing big games. But they shouldn't stand on ceremony against these big boys when the opportunity is there. Tammy Abraham was not particularly impressive against Manchester United, except that he struck the post once.
Mason Mount pressed well in the earlier stages but was nowhere to be seen after Marcus Rashford's penalty. In front of goal, he was indecisive, which everyone was. Emerson was the standout among all the Blues the other day. He brought some spark in attack and also hit the post, while De Gea denied him twice.
Christian Pulisic was a substitute against United and might get the nod in the Super Cup. Can this group of youngsters achieve something though? It's a known fact that every great player was once a promising youngster,. Great players are trusted and make a decisive contribution as youngsters, that is known as well. Abraham, Mount, Pulisic, these are players who can be the future of their club and are raring to show their potential. This is their chance. Can they beat Liverpool's defense? We'll see.
