Anfield is the Londoners’ most visited away ground and our 94th visit is also the first encounter with former Feyenoord boss Arne Slot, who took charge of the Reds in the summer and has steered them to early league leadership.

The Slot machine may be paying out even more than Kop fans hoped for in the post-Klopp era, but Enzo Maresca’s Blues lie fourth, four points behind, and have a 100 per cent record away from home – it’s five wins in a row including last season’s late run.

A win for the Italian on Sunday would make him just the fifth manager to win each of their first four away Premier League fixtures. The Liverpool boss this season and our own Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2008 are among the previous four.

The next seven fixtures present big challenges for Chelsea on all fronts, including a trip to Athens to face Panathinaikos in the Conference League followed by a double-header against Newcastle United in league and cup, plus top-flight clashes with Manchester United and Arsenal.

Nevertheless, the confident Londoners will target victory after two draws and a loss in this pocket of Merseyside since Mason Mount’s winner in 2021. An early goal wouldn't hurt, as the Blues are unbeaten in our past 30 Premier League games when leading at half-time.

Team news

Chelsea are aiming for a fourth-successive victory on the road from the start of the league season, a feat previously achieved in 2005/06 (four wins) and 2008/09 (eight).

The draw against Forest – who won at Anfield this campaign – came despite expected goals of 2.3 against one of the best defensive teams in the top flight and a goalkeeper in Man-of-the-Match form.

The Blues have two defenders suspended for five accumulated yellow cards - Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella. It is possible their places could be taken by 6ft 5in Tosin Adarabioyo and 6ft 3in Renato Veiga, although it is also possible Reece James could return in some form after training with the team this week.

Growing into the team, Tosin complements the technical, cool-under-pressure and incisive distributor Levi Colwill, who has become one of Maresca’s key defenders. Veiga netted his first goal for the Blues against Gent and can replicate Cucurella, taking turns with Malo Gusto to bolster central midfield.

Maresca will be hoping his South American midfield duo of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, have arrived back in good shape following international duty. The Argentine tops Chelsea's rankings for successful tackles in the final third and is key in creating overloads, while his Ecuadorian partner has won 16 tackles overall – the third most for any top-flight player.

Cole Palmer will want to occupy a half-space between Alexis Mac Allister and the rest of Liverpool's midfield, while looking to add to the 21 chances he has created from open play so far, which is two more than any other player in this season’s Premier League. Our No20 was named Premier League Player of the Month this week after netting five goals in four league games during September.

So many Blues forwards are in form for club and country that Maresca has the luxury of choice. He may opt for wide players who can best exploit Liverpool’s high line of defence. Meanwhile, no goalkeeper has made more saves (33) or sweeper clearances (13) than Robert Sanchez, who also ranks second for throw-outs (46) and third for high claims (10) in this campaign.

The history

The 4-1 loss at Anfield last season represented Chelsea’s first defeat in three visits, following successive draws. It was also the exact reverse of our first-ever trip to Anfield on Christmas Day 1907 – a ‘handsome victory… as pronounced as the score would indicate’ in Division One. Prolific George Hilsdon, the man depicted on the East Stand weathervane at Stamford Bridge, broke the deadlock and added a second.

Success in this part of Merseyside became rare, though, and when traveling fans celebrated former Wimbledon duo Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise conjuring a 2-1 for Ian Porterfield’s team in February 1992, it was the Blues’ first win there in 57 years.

The same scoreline on the opening day in 2003 felt like a harbinger of glory to follow in a new era, especially as one of many new signings, Juan Veron, drew first blood.

Most famously, Demba Ba silenced Anfield on 27 April 2013, capitalising on Steven Gerrard’s miscontrol and slip to open the scoring. Willian’s breakaway goal completed the 2-0 scoreline that killed the Kops’ title aspirations.

The Londoners last scooped all three points at Anfield in March 2021, against the then defending champions. With fans absent because of lockdown, Mount ghosted across the edge of the box then speared in the winner, consigning the Reds to a fifth straight home loss for the first time in their history.

Know this…

Chelsea and Liverpool are both performing better on the road than in their own stadium this season – ranking tenth and ninth respectively at home, second and first away. A win today would make the Blues the best traveling team.

The Londoners’ current tally of 10 away league goals equals the club’s best return at this stage of a top-flight season, set in 1997/98 and equalled in 2014/15. Our figure of 14.7 expected goals this season has only been bettered by Tottenham (15.0).

41.1 per cent of Chelsea shots have been on target (second behind Brentford, 50.6 per cent), 41.0 per cent of on-target efforts have resulted in goals, and 0.16 per cent of all attempts have found the net (joint-highest in the Premier League).

Chelsea have hit the woodwork five times this campaign, the most in the Premier League after Bournemouth and Man Utd (six).

Until its redevelopment last season, Anfield’s largest-ever league attendance was the 58,757 present for Chelsea’s 2-2 draw in a visit on 27 December 1949.