GLEN JOHNSON: BETDAQ Brand Ambassador Glen Johnson previews Chelsea v Liverpool, as his old teams go head to head at Stamford Bridge, while he also shares his weekly accumulator picks for key fixtures in this weekend’s Premier League action.
Liverpool will bounce back
Liverpool will be disappointed after their 2-0 defeat to Napoli in the Champions League, but it’s no time for panic as the Italians can beat anyone on their day.
It’s arguably the first time Virgil van Dijk has been shown up for the Reds too, but he’s only human and he’s a top player who I expect to bounce back. He strikes me as the type of player who won’t be phased and will get back to his usual standards this weekend.
I don’t think losing at this point in the season is a disaster for Liverpool – sometimes you learn more from losing a match than winning it. It’s rare that top teams will lose two on the bounce, so Jurgen Klopp’s side will be desperate to get back to winning ways and it’ll be interesting to see how they react.
Teams can afford to lose a couple of games in Europe and still get out the group, but we’ve seen in the league last year that losing two games can still lose you the league! So, they will want to keep up the advantage they have over their title rivals.
Stamford Bridge is a hard place to go to, and even though I don’t think Liverpool will expect to go there and roll Chelsea over I do still think they will win.
Frank’s started well despite European blip
Chelsea’s performances have been a bit up and down this season. It was a great win against Wolves away, but then they had a poor result at home to Valencia in the Champions League.
However, I think Frank Lampard can be happy about the start they’ve made and there’s plenty to build on. It’s a tough task at hand for Frank, but he can take pride in the way he’s brought in young talent and given them a chance to express themselves.
It just goes to show you that by giving these promising players a chance then they can take it with both hands. I’ve been really impressed with Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount and I’m looking forward to seeing more of them.
The concerning thing for the Blues right now is the amount of goals they are conceding, and that’s ominous going into a game against a Liverpool team who are firing on all cylinders in attack and will likely expose them if they aren’t at their best.
One thing that wasn’t good to see was Ross Barkley missing that penalty after deciding to take over responsibility from their usual takers. Usually there will be a number one and number two pick for penalties, so players can’t just trump the manager’s and team’s decision – it’s just wrong.
I remember an instance at Stoke when Charlie Adam did the same and missed, and he got a bit of stick for it. That said, players don’t mean to miss so it’s important they aren’t treated too harshly, and I think Frank will deal well with that type of situation as he’s level-headed and calm.
Tough decision, but I’m supporting The Reds
It’s always a tough one personally for me when my old teams face each other, but I’ll be supporting Liverpool for this one because of where they are in the league and I’d love to see them finally win the title this season.
Should they win, it’s a massive game out of the way in their bid to win the league, but we’re expecting Chelsea to have a turbulent season and lose these types of matches, so it’s more important for Liverpool to win in my opinion.
I’m going for both teams to score in this one and fancy the Reds to win 2-1.
Weekly Acca Predictions
Here are my weekly accumulator selections, where I fancy Liverpool to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and my old team West Ham to shock Manchester United at the London Stadium.
Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.
