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Marc Cucurella believes Chelsea has a "good opportunity" to beat Liverpool in the Premier League this weekend despite the Stamford Bridge side being set to be without nine players through either injury or suspension.
Star man Cole Palmer has been ruled out with a thigh problem, while Levi Colwill has undergone surgery for an ACL injury. Center-back Tosin Adarabioyo and striker Liam Delap have calf and thigh injuries, respectively.
Dario Essugo and Trevoh Chalobah are out, while Andrey Santos has a minor issue that is being monitored. Wesley Fofana was concussed recently, while Mykhailo Mudryk is absent after being charged with a doping offence. Mudryk has denied any wrongdoing.
"We are ready to play these types of games," Cucurella said. "For sure, I think Liverpool deserved to win the league last season. This season, they have started really strongly.
"But I think the last few games we have played against Liverpool have been a fight.
"We get to play at home, and we’ll be going for the three points because the last results in the Premier League have been a bit tough for us. We have a good opportunity to finish with a win before the international break."
"Against Benfica, we kept a clean sheet, we were fighting in the last minutes like a team, and we showed a lot of character," Cucurella continued.
"I think we are working hard. It’s true we need to learn and try not to concede these easy goals, and we need to keep improving. We have a lot of quality and a lot of talent, but we need to learn, as every game is a good opportunity to improve things.
"It was very important for us to gain confidence, and the Benfica game helped us do that. It was our first game at home playing in the Champions League for the past two seasons, so it was very special.
"We need to create this environment on Saturday, and we’ll be going for the three points."
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Chelsea beat Liverpool 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in May but that was when the Premier League title had already been wrapped up. The Reds won 2-1 in the Anfield game last season with Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones scoring.
Liverpool has some absentees of its own, with Alisson Becker set to miss out. Giovanni Leoni has undergone surgery on his ACL injury, while Stefan Bajcetic is still working his way back to fitness. Arne Slot will offer the latest update tomorrow.
Liverpool.com says: Games between Chelsea and Liverpool tend to be exciting and goal-filled. This weekend, both teams are looking a little shaky defensively, so there could be more of the same.
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