Michael Owen Predicts The Scoreline As Liverpool Take On Chelsea

Ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen is predicting a stalemate when his former club face Chelsea at Anfield on Thursday evening.

The BT Sport pundit is expecting the Blues to sit back and play on the counter-attack, considering the Reds have faced issues when playing teams who have set up in a similar fashion in recent weeks. With that in mind, Owen thinks it could be a cagey affair:

“Liverpool will be desperate to get on track after a string of poor results on home soil. They welcome a Chelsea side that will no doubt be cautious. If Thomas Tuchel sets up to play on the counter, I could see them causing Liverpool problems. However, if there’s one thing missing from this Chelsea side it’s a recognised number nine. With that in mind, I think this one will be tight.”

Owen has gone for a 1-1 draw, which seems like a pretty fair prediction, considering the form of both teams going into the game. Liverpool did get back to winning ways against Sheffield United on Sunday but they are still fragile at the back so you would back Chelsea to score.

However, Thomas Tuchel’s side are not exactly free-flowing in the final third of the pitch so they may not be able to exploit all the opportunities presented to them.  Combined with Liverpool’s lack of goals at home recently, it doesn’t seem like it will be a match filled with goals.