LIVERPOOL HAVE TO KEEP CALM

Klopp must clear heads for Chelsea challenge

Now they look a far more vulnerable side and having fallen 12 points off the relentless pace set by leaders City, they will drop six points below third-place Chelsea if they lose at Anfield today.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has railed against the unequal preparation time afforded to the two teams, with Chelsea having not returned from their trip to Baku until the early hours of Thursday.

Yet with his team having put four unanswered goals past first West Bromwich Albion and then Qarabag in their last two games, Chelsea look in much ruder health than their next opponents.

Conte has played down the significance of Liverpool’s derailment in Seville, arguing the game’s outcome was not an accurate reflection of how Klopp’s team had played.

“I watched the game and I think Liverpool played a really good first half with great intensity and they scored three goals,” said Conte, whose side trail City by nine points.

“Football is strange. What happened in the second half is very difficult to explain.

“Liverpool also in the second half had opportunities to score other goals. In the second half they were also unlucky.”

Conte has admitted to being concerned about how the 8,000km round trip to Azerbaijan — and quicker turnaround — will affect his players.

Chelsea also had 24 hours’ less recovery time when they tackled City in late September, three days after a hard-fought 2-1 win away to Atletico Madrid, and were thoroughly second-best in a 1-0 defeat.

Seeking to mitigate the effects of fatigue, Conte rested Alvaro Morata against Qarabag, sending his top scorer on for only the last 25 minutes of a game that sent Chelsea into the last 16.

Conte could obtain an extra pair of fresh legs if wing-back Victor Moses — who spent the 201314 season on loan at Liverpool — overcomes the hamstring injury that has kept him out for over a month.

Klopp has said there is a “big chance” centre-back Joel Matip will return for Liverpool after missing two games with a thigh strain.

Simon Mignolet will return in goal, while Klopp must decide whether to persevere with Alberto Moreno at left-back after the Spaniard’s second-half horror show against his former club Sevilla. AFP