LIVE BLOG

90+4min: Alonso gets a yellow for stopping a counter, but it’s FULL TIME.

90+2min: Gomez on for Salah as Liverpool waste a bit of time.

90min: Mount this time with a huge miss after being found by Alonso’s latest cross.

88min: Alonso and Batshuayi connect this time, but the header drifts slightly wide of the far post. Close!

87min: Kanté covers a Salah counter try. At the other end, Alonso’s cross just eludes Batshuayi and Adrian can catch.

86min: Milner in the book for a foul on Zouma, as he stepped up into midfield.

84min: Kovacic in the book for slamming the ball down after a ticky tacky foul is called against Chelsea.

83min: Lallana on for Henderson.

81min: Willian wins a free kick wide left. Mount swings it in, finding Alonso at the end of a curling run at the far post. Adrian pulls off an amazing save to keep out the downwards header, but the linesman’s flagging anyway.

78min: Fabinho tackles Batshuayi to prevent a counter from a corner. Booking issued in due course.

72min: Milner on for Mané as Liverpool look to close it out.

71min: GOAL!!!! N’GOLO KANTÉ!!! Kanté takes on four, beats them all, and finishes into the top corner. Goal of the season candidate. 2-1!

69min: Zouma gives the ball away and Liverpool break with numbes, finding Salah in space. Fortunately his touch is terrible and Zouma can blast it into the stands.

64min: Great covering from Tomori on Salah after Mount is crowded out at the top of the area and Liverpool counter quickly.

59min: Matip makes a goal-saving tackle on Abraham as he was reaching for an Azpilicueta cross, then Kanté’s long shot from the corner just misses the post. Chelsea looking better in the last few minutes.

57min: Olivier books Alexander-Arnold for time-wasting, just a minute after warning Henderson and Liverpool for doing so.

55min: Chelsea with a chance to counter, but Willian slows it down. Chelsea maintain possession, before Jorginho’s cross back for Willian is too strong.

53min: Chelsea win a corner as Van Dijk heads clear from Alonso’s cross. Liverpool half clear, and Chelsea retain possession.

50min: Another massive save by Kepa as Liverpool are making mince-meat of Chelsea. The play did get called back for an offside, but it did not look offside on replay.

47min: Massive save by Kepa to keep Chelsea somewhat in the game, keeping out the far post header in the second phase of a corner kick.

HALF-TIME: No changes at half-time.

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45+2min: HALF-TIME

45+1min: A crossfield ball finds Alonso in acres of space. The cross comes in, but Adrian gets a hand to it. He fumbles it, but dives on it before any of the three Chelsea shirts closing in can turn it into the back of the net.

42min: Zouma replaces Christensen in the second injury-enforced substitute for Chelsea.

41min: Chelsea smuggle the corner away and actually turn it into a counter as Kanté chests down a Jorginho clearance. Kovacic runs out of space on the left as Alexander-Arnold covers.

38min: Now it’s Christensen who’s down after colliding with Tomori while blocking a Salah shot. It’s not looking good for Andreas, as they flex his left knee. Christensen walks off very gingerly while supported by the physios.

35min: Abraham stays down after Adrian takes him out with a knee on a high cross.

33min: Tomori does well to defend against Salah twice in quick succession. Chelsea have looked solid, other than set pieces.

30min: Goal. Liverpool. Azpilicueta called for a foul wide right. The free kick comes in, Firmino, unmarked, heads into the back of the net. 2-0, Liverpool.

27min: GOAL!!!! AZPILICUETA!! Chelsea corner, Mount taking, Matip clearing. Chelsea maintain possession, and attack on the left. A lucky bounce goes to Willian, breaking behind and he lays the ball across. Liverpool can’t quite clear and Azpilicueta’s on hand to put it in the back of the net. And then VAR rules it out for a marginal offside on Mount.

24min: Chelsea break the offside trap, and Abraham’s in, 1-v-1 with Mount supporting on the left. Abraham goes it, but Adrian saves. Massive chance, missed.

20min: Tomori goes into the book for a strong but late sliding challenge on Henderson.

18min: Chelsea keeping up the pressure and win a corner. Alonso (!?) takes it, Adrian punches clear through a sea of bodies, with Tomori interested.

15min: Emerson’s day is over with a hamstring injury, having just returned from injury. Marcos Alonso’s on, and almost creates a chance immediately, but Liverpool clear from inside the six. The corner eventually results in a shooting opportunity for Kovacic, but it’s charged down by Fabinho.

14min: Goal. Liverpool. Christensen fouls Mané just outside the top of the box, central. Henderson, Salah, Alexander-Arnold have a conference over it. Salah runs up, rolls it back, and Alexander-Arnold leathers it into the top corner. Pretty easy! 1-0, Liverpool.

11min: Lovely feet from Kovačić creates space for Mount to run into. He gets a left-footed cross in, but Abraham can’t quite get to it and Robertson clears ahead of Willian making the far post run.

10min: Tomori appears to have picked up a knock in his right leg after completing a clearance but running out of pitch. Alonso goes for a jog.

8min: Chelsea break through Mount, Abraham, and Kanté, who lays it on for Willian to run onto, but Van Dijk bodies the Chelsea winger out of the way with relative ease. Goal kick.

6min: Liverpool with pressure in the final third, Chelsea holding strong and force a deep throw, but cannot keep the ball.

4min: Last ditch sliding clearance from Azpilicueta prevents a deep Henderson cross from reaching Mané.

3min: Willian gets an knee from Van Dijk into the backside. Chelsea’s No.10 stays down for a second but is okay to carry on.

2min: A good passing sequence on the right breaks down when Tammy turns back instead of keeping it going. Decent first few moments for Chelsea.

KICK-OFF: The league leaders get the game started, but high Chelsea pressure forces Adrian to kick it into the stands.

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Blue vs. Red.

Good vs. Evil.

It’s a classic matchup.

Looks like Kanté, Mount, and Emerson have all recovered enough and are fit to be starting! And back to the 4-3-3, just like in the Super Cup!

Here we go!

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Chelsea starting lineup (4-3-3):
Arrizabalaga | Emerson, Tomori, Christensen, Azpilicueta (c) | Kovačić, Jorginho, Kanté | Mount, Abraham, Willian

Substitutes from: Caballero, Zouma, Alonso, Barkley, Pedro, Pulisic, Batshuayi

Liverpool starting lineup (4-3-3)
Adrián | Robertson, Van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold | Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Henderson (c) | Mané, Firmino, Salah

Substitutes from: Kelleher, Gomez, Milner, Brewster, Shaqiri, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain

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Date / Time: Sunday, September 22, 2018, 16:30 BST; 11:30am EDT; 9pm IST
Venue: Stamford Bridge, SW6
Referee: Michael Olive

On TV: Sky Sports Main Event (UK); NBCSN, Telemundo (USA); Star Sports Select HD2 (India); elsewhere
Streaming: Sky Go (UK); NBC Sports Live, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo (USA); Hotstar (India)

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!