Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur

When Maurizio Sarri first strolled into Stamford Bridge, the expectation was one of a slow season followed by success next year. However, the fast start to the season – including some very impressive results against Liverpool – means the wheels have come off a touch. Recent results have been poor to say the least, with the latest resulting in Sarri slating the attitude of his entire squad.

It’s safe to say, then, that things aren’t exactly rose behind the scenes. With a good performance needed to overturn a first leg loss against Tottenham Hotspur, then, can Chelsea make their case to win the 2019 League Cup?

Chelsea News

Not much to worry about for the Blues, in truth. Ruben Loftus-Cheek will again miss out, while Eden Hazard is expected to continue to play up front despite not really suiting the style of play of the team.

Callum Hudson-Odoi – now being linked with a move up north to Liverpool – is another interesting option. He could start from the right-hand side in a bid to convince him to stick around and take part in the second half of the season with Chelsea.

Tottenham News

For Spurs, things are a touch trickier. Star duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli are both 100% ruled out, while Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko are likely to miss out, too. Lucas Moura is out, and Son Heung-Min is now at the Asian Cup with South Korea.

Expect match-winner Harry Winks to get a game, as well as the rejuvenated Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.

Verdict

Expect this to be a good game, with both sides having enough form and injury worries to create a really intense, back-and-forth match-up. We can see Spurs really going for it, but Chelsea overcoming them: the injuries to Spurs means a long night could likely go against them, just purely on squad depth.

Manchester City vs Liverpool

As far as title deciders go in 2018-19, this one might come a bit early. Make no mistake, though: this game is going to be a major deciding factor in where our title goes. Manchester City host Liverpool knowing they have a seven point deficit to make up. With this being the last league game between the two sides, a win could be decisive: a win for City changes the mood entirely, a win for Liverpool offers them a 10-point lead over City.

City News

Kevin de Bruyne has endured a challenging season so far with fitness issues, and could potentially miss out here again. Fabian Delph is out too, with a suspension, and Ilkay Gundogan will likely miss out. Good news, though, is that John Stones and Leroy Sane, a perpetual thorn in the side of Liverpool, will be back.

We can expect to see Oleksandr Zinchenko play again, though he was pretty poor against Southampton. A potential game against the Liverpool attacking trio might see Aymeric Laporte moved out to full-back. Kyle Walker could return, but poor form means he might sit this one out.

Liverpool News

For Liverpool, there’s not much to worry about in terms of injury. The challenge comes from how far they go for it. For example, should they start with Xherdan Shaqiri? Or Naby Keita? Jordan Henderson or Georginio Wijnaldum?

The options are expansive and it does offer the Reds a few key changes to make. Throw in the fact that their key defensive quarter of Dejan Lovren, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson are all fit (so far) and they should be in fine fettle here in terms of squad fitness.

Verdict

This could be the game of the season. We suggest that City are the favorites given their incredible home form, but Liverpool have a good record against City under Klopp, so it should be a fantastic match either way. If we had to call a score, we’d go for 2-2.