Chelsea v Liverpool live: Ekitike injury latest as Premier League leaders look to avoid third straight defeat

Jamie Carragher said Liverpool are a “mess” and called on head coach Arne Slot to “earn his money” by fixing the issues in the team after suffering back-to-back defeats.

The Premier League champions required late goals to win their first five games of the season but after a summer of heavy spending Carragher said Liverpool have lost their balance and called on big-money signing Florian Wirtz to be dropped.

“I’m not watching a top team,” Carragher said on CBS Sports. “Liverpool aren’t playing football at the moment, they are playing basketball. It is just end-to-end and I don’t think top teams play like that.”

Chelsea are still without Cole Palmer, who Enzo Maresca hopes will be back after the international break,

But exciting 18-year-old winger Estevao Willian could step in.

The Brazil international has been used sparingly since arriving in the summer whilst he acclimatises to English football.

“Estevao reminds me of Cole when he was with me for the Under-23s at (Manchester) City,” said Maresca.

“I think Cole’s path has been similar to Estevao’s in terms of starting as a winger and then slowly you can move inside.

“The Premier League is completely different. If you want to play in the middle you need to be prepared physically. Cole now is like that, and I see Estevao exactly the same way.”

Curtis Jones says Liverpool have to keep calm and carry on as Arne Slot’s side look to recover from back-to-back defeats in today’s “huge game” at Chelsea.

“It’s just part of the game,” Jones said. “I say it all the time, you must be mad if you think you can win every game.

“You’d obviously like to, but the reality is these teams you play are world-class teams and it’s normal if you lose. It’s just how you bounce back.

“We’ve got a huge game again in three days, the lads have to stay calm.

“It’s part of it, it’s not fine that we lose but we just have to stay calm and it will all change. It will all change, of course it will.”

Red cards have plagued Chelsea this season, with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez dismissed five minutes into the 2-1 defeat at Manchester United and Trevoh Chalobah being sent off in last weekend’s 3-1 loss to visiting Brighton and Hove Albion.

Maresca said: “Most of the games we didn’t get the points were because of the red cards. Also the injury situation, we have eight players out. It’s a mixed combination but we don’t have any doubt that slowly we will be again where we need to be.”

Virgil van Dijk has built a career and a reputation on not panicking. The most laidback centre-back of his generation can derive some of his considerable authority from a calm demeanour. It would be out of character if his reaction to back-to-back defeats were to panic. It wasn’t. “There shouldn’t be panic, but improvement is needed,” counselled the Liverpool skipper.

A 1-0 loss to Galatasaray followed a 2-1 setback at Crystal Palace. With Chelsea next, there is the potential for the week to get worse, for Liverpool to enter territory they have not previously charted under Arne Slot by losing three in a row.

Liverpool’s back-to-back defeats over the last week have shown that they are vulnerable, but that will not make tonight’s Premier League clash with the champions any easier for Chelsea, warned Enzo Maresca

“There is a vulnerability about any team in the world, not just Liverpool,” Maresca said. “But if a team wins every game, it is impossible to catch them. Now they lost one or two games. That shows vulnerability.

“I don’t think now it is better to play Liverpool. It is always a tough game, always a big team.”

Liverpool’s Alisson is a doubt to face Manchester United after the international break with Arne Slot confirming the goalkeeper will not be joining up with Brazil this month.

Alisson injured his hamstring in Liverpool’s Champions League defeat at Galatasaray on Tuesday and Giorgi Mamardashvili will make his first Premier League start away at Chelsea.

Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa both trained ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge following knocks, as Liverpool look to bounce back from back-to-back defeats for just the second time under Slot.

Chelsea XI: Sanchez; James, Fofana, Badiashile, Cucurella; Lavia, Caicedo, Fernandez; Estevao, Pedro, Neto.

Liverpool XI: Mamardashvili; Szoboszlai, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Isak.

This match will come too soon for Cole Palmer and Tosin Adarabioyo, who will likely be out until after the international break. However, Andrey Santos and Wesley Fofana could return to the squad after short-term injury lay-offs.

Trevoh Chalobah is suspended after his red card against Brighton, while Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Liam Deal remain the longer-term absentees.

Viewers in the UK can watch the match on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League, with coverage starting at 5pm BST on both channels. Subscribers can also stream the match online via NOWTV. If you’re not a Sky customer, you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass to watch without a subscription.