Beating Chelsea would be good for our confidence: Alisson
Ahead of Chelsea encounter, Liverpool goalkeeper also hails the return of van Dijk, Matip and the fans
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson believes the Reds' clash with Chelsea on Sunday morning (Singapore time) will give his side a chance to lay down an early marker in this season's English Premier League title race.
Both sides have won their first two games of the season, with neither conceding a goal.
But at least one team will drop points at Anfield on Sunday.
| LIVERPOOL | CHELSEA |
Asked by Liverpool's website how big a statement it would be to beat Chelsea, Alisson said: "I think for what we believe and for what we want to achieve, it's a good sign because you are playing one of the favourite sides in the title race.
"And if you can beat one of these sides, it's always good for you to give confidence."
Adding that the Reds want to win on all fronts this season, Alisson will need to keep the Chelsea attack at bay if Juergen Klopp's men are to gain a head start in the title race.
The Blues have boosted their attack with Romelu Lukaku, who wasted no time in showing why they paid Inter Milan £97.5m (S$181.1) to get him back to Stamford Bridge this summer.
The Belgian put in a dominant performance in last Sunday's 2-0 win over Arsenal, during which he scored the opener.
"He's an amazing player, of course, they became stronger with him," Alisson told Sky Sports. "And they were already strong - they won the Champions League without him. He's an amazing player, I don't need to tell you about his qualities."
But the Reds have also been buoyed by the return of their first-choice centre-back pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, both of whom missed large parts of last season due to injury.
Asked how it feels to have van Dijk and Matip in front of him again, Alisson said: "Losing them was a big knock on our team; not only them but many players got injured last season.
"But having them back again, I'm really happy about this... again, a lot of things that we still have to improve, but so far, so good.
"The last two games we played, you can feel already that we didn't lose too much together."
The return of fans could play a crucial role and Alisson acknowledged that the Anfield crowd was a huge boost during last Saturday's 2-0 win over Burnley.
Said the Brazilian: "It's a really good feeling and they really, really push us forward to help us improve.
"This energy that comes from outside of the pitch is something that can move the team on and set the level as high as possible."
Reds left-back Andy Robertson is available for selection after recovering from an ankle ligament injury, while Fabinho has returned to training after missing the Burnley game following his father's death.
Chelsea's Christian Pulisic, who missed the Arsenal game after testing positive for Covid-19, looks set to remain unavailable.
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