Chelsea and Liverpool have been battling for Caicedo since Friday and will have another battle on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge. The London team will meet the Reds in the first round of the Premier League (17:30) in a clash between rivals who have made big plans for the upcoming season.

Ambitious clubs, who see themselves as at least among the top four in the Premier League, have clashed six times in the last two years, and each ended in a draw—the previous four and without goals.

A new era begins at Stamford Bridge (again). Frank Lampard left the club, and Mauricio Pochettino returned to the Premier League, but this time in the blue part of London. Chelsea have had a very strange summer.

They sold almost the entire team. Buy a lot of new players (again), but this team is far from finished. A lot of key players are injured. Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, and Benoit Badiashile will miss the start of the season.

They have several targets and expect many arrivals by the end of the transfer window. Despite huge investments in the previous two transfer periods and even this summer, the Blues remained just a shell of a team that once claimed all the titles.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino arrived to fix things, but he is far from having the strongest squad.

The Blues still have to invest a lot to have a jump-started team for the competition on all fronts, and the serious injury of Kristofer Nkunku forces the management to go for another striker in addition to the one already targeted – Dusan Vlahovic.

Another good right wing is also missing reinforcements in the midfield on the right defensive flank… Everywhere is creaking at the moment.

When it comes to Liverpool, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita, Roberto Firmino, and James Milner left.

Only two reinforcements were brought in, in the form of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, who should “own” the midfield. They have players in attack, but they need more in midfield.

Thiago is injured, and Jurgen Klopp only has Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. Midfield has been a problem for Liverpool for several seasons now. Even with this squad, they are one of the favorites for the top 4, but they are a little way off Arsenal and Manchester City.

Strategist Jurgen Klopp targets another sound reinforcement by the end of the transfer window. The Reds had a relatively successful end to a season that looked as doomed as Chelsea’s.

However, Liverpool managed to get on the scene, did not lose in the last 11 rounds, and finally finished in fifth place, thanks to which they will “at least” play in the Europa League this year.