Liverpool look to pick up the pieces against Chelsea

Reds let go of 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 but must bounce back straight away in crunch clash

LONDON: Shellshocked after their capitulation against Sevilla and having been thrashed in two big Premier League clashes this season, Liverpool have their backs to the wall ahead of Chelsea's visit on Saturday.

Liverpool's horizons were clear in the 30th minute of Tuesday's game at Sevilla in the Champions League, with Jurgen Klopp's side 3-0 up and cruising towards the last 16.

But Sevilla staged a second-half fightback, capped by Guido Pizarro's 93rd-minute equaliser, to leave Liverpool's knockout-phase hopes in the balance and blacken the mood around their Melwood training base.

"It feels like we lost the game," Klopp conceded after the 3-3 draw. "That's our business, that's our life. We have to start preparing for Chelsea pretty much immediately. We cannot change it. Everybody wants to change it, but it's not possible."

Sharpening Liverpool's sense of frustration will be the knowledge that prior to their unravelling at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Klopp's men appeared to have turned a corner.

They have won their last three league games — scoring 10 goals and conceding only one — and had taken command of their Champions League group with a 3-0 win over Maribor.

Events in Seville, however, revealed the soft underbelly previously glimpsed in September's 5-0 drubbing at Manchester City and last month's 4-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur remains an issue.

Liverpool performed brilliantly against their main rivals last season, going 10 games unbeaten against the other members of the top six.

Now they look a far more vulnerable side and having fallen 12 points off the relentless pace set by leaders City, they will drop six points below third-place Chelsea if they lose at Anfield on Saturday.

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has railed against the unequal preparation time afforded to the two teams, with Chelsea having not returned from their trip to Baku until the early hours of Thursday.

Yet with his team having put four unanswered goals past first West Bromwich Albion and then Qarabag in their last two games, Chelsea look in much ruder health than their next opponents.

Conte has played down the significance of Liverpool's derailment in Seville, arguing the game's outcome was not an accurate reflection of how Klopp's team had played.

"I watched the game and I think Liverpool played a really good first half with great intensity and they scored three goals," said Conte, whose side trail City by nine points. "Football is strange. What happened in the second half is very difficult to explain. Liverpool also in the second half had opportunities to score other goals. In the second half they were also unlucky."

However, he was unhappy with the time between their matches. "We had to work during the flight, to prepare the game against Liverpool," said Conte. "To have only one day to rest and only one day to prepare this big game is not simple, is not easy. I think also it's not right. I don't want to make excuses, but this is the reality. Someone has to help us."

While Conte frets, the biggest problem for City — winners of their last 10 league games — appears to be a battle to guard against complacency.

City extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches in all competitions with a 1-0 Champions League win against Feyenoord on Tuesday.

Guardiola's side, who hold an eight-point lead over second-placed Manchester United, have been showered with praise for their sensational start to the season, but City midfielder Yaya Toure insists they won't get carried away.

"It is very important to keep the confidence going. But we have to be careful because in these circumstances we have to keep focused," he said. "What I learned, when I was in Barcelona in 2009, was we don't listen to any newspaper because you could think you are one of the best and after that get a strong team who destroy you."

United host Brighton on Saturday with Daley Blind confident the return of his team's walking wounded will help them keep in touch with City.

Beaten 1-0 by Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday, Jose Mourinho's side could take heart from Marcos Rojo's first appearance since April, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's second substitute role since his knee injury and Paul Pogba's presence in midfield following his lay-off.

"I'm very happy for them. Everyone is ready and wants to play,” said Blind. "It is good because there is a very busy period coming up so everybody needs to be sharp and ready. We will need everyone."