Jürgen Klopp Tips Chelsea as Favourites for Friday Night Clash

Liverpool beat Arsenal on the road to open the season, fought Tottenham to a draw at White Hart Lane, and dismantled last season’s champions at Anfield just last weekend. It hasn’t been the perfect start, though, with a stumble against Burnley providing the blemish.

Chelsea, meanwhile, sit second in the table, three points and four places ahead of the Reds in the early going. And according to Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, that’s thanks to their experience—experience that makes them the favourites on Friday night.

“There is still space for improvement,” said the Liverpool manager. “We need to improve for the game against Chelsea. We are much younger, but they have so much experience. They can play if they want an ugly game, where nothing works but they always score.

“Because we are younger, for us we need good moments in the game to find the next good moment. Experience, if you can use it the right way, is really important, and they are more experienced. We are the challenger so we want to look to create a problem for them.”

Chelsea may be the favourites, especially with the game set to be played at Stamford Bridge, but if Liverpool can play the kind of fast, attacking, but responsible football they did against Leicester City last Saturday, there are few sides in the game that could stop them.

Plus, while Liverpool have had their stumble this season, Chelsea haven’t been perfect, either. At times they looked downright poor in their last outing, a 2-2 draw with Swansea City. And a convincing Liverpool win on Friday could see the Reds leapfrog them in the table.

A win for Liverpool, particularly one as convincing as their defeat of Leicester last week, would set them up as legitimate title aspirants. For Chelsea, a win would put them in first place—at least until Manchester City play—and set them up to be one of the favourites.

“Friday night is one of the best moments to play football,” Klopp added, harkening back to his days in Germany where Friday games are a regular part of life in the Bundesliga. “Let’s go for it.”