Thursday’s Super Cup will be the 183rd time these two sides have met and the 11th in UEFA competitions.

Liverpool hold the overall advantage, winning 78 to Chelsea’s 63, but the Blues do have the edge in Europe with three wins to two and five draws.

Liverpool wins: 78 Draws: 41 Chelsea wins: 63

For the first time since 2013, there will be no Spanish team present in the UEFA Super Cup final.

In Prague in 2013, Chelsea – as Europa League winners – were one of the two non-Spanish teams, losing to Bayern Munich on penalties for their second Super Cup defeat in as many years after being humbled 4-1 by Atletico Madrid.

The back-to-back defeats are sandwiched between two Manchester United losses in 2008 and 2017 as English teams are currently without a Super Cup win in four attempts. The last English team to win the Super Cup were, in fact, Liverpool, who beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 in 2005.

But the 14-year wait will come to an end on Wednesday with the first-ever all-English Super Cup final, as Liverpool and Chelsea face off.

Both teams do have Super Cup successes to their name, with Liverpool adding to their 2005 glory with wins in 1977 and 2001, while Chelsea’s solitary victory came in 1998. However, both sides have also tasted defeat with two each, Chelsea losing the aforementioned 2012 and 2013 finals and Liverpool losing in 1978 and 1984.

So, who will make history as the winner of the first all-ever English Super Cup final?

Can Lampard’s Chelsea bounce back?

Many Chelsea fans were full of optimism when Frank Lampard was named as Blues manager over the summer, ready to herald in a new era.

But they were brought back down to earth with a bang in Lampard’s first competitive match, being beaten 4-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Chelsea actually enjoyed the better spells of possession throughout the match but were let down by abject defending and United’s clinical finishing and fast counter-attacking.

On the back of the defeat, the one team Chelsea would least like to play would be Liverpool, a team who counter-attack for fun with devastating effect.

But not only that, Chelsea only have three days to wait until they do play Liverpool, giving Lampard a very short time to work out the kinks and pick the 11 players he feels can stop the rot.

Which European cup winner enjoys the most Super Cup success?

Although the Champions League is the continent’s premier club competition, and thus its winners are usually European giants, the big clubs have not always had their way in the UEFA Super Cup.

In fact, Champions League winners have won 23 of the 43 UEFA Super Cup finals to date, only just edging out the champions of the second-tier competition, be it the Cup Winners’ Cup, UEFA Cup or Europa League.

And that edge has only come in the past decade, with Atletico Madrid’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid last season ending a run of five straight Super Cup wins for Champions League sides. At the start of that run in 2013, Champions League winners trailed 18-19.

Who is the referee?

As well as being the first all-English final, the Super Cup will also be making history with the officials. For the first time ever, the final of a UEFA men’s competition will be refereed by a woman called Stéphanie Frappart. She makes history by becoming the first female official to referee a major men’s UEFA match

French referee Stephanie Frappart will be the one to take charge in Istanbul, fresh off officiating in the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. She will be joined by Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O’Neill as her assistant referees, while experienced Cuneyt Cakir is the fourth official.

Team news

Liverpool will go into Wednesday’s game without their first-choice goalkeeper after Alisson had to be substituted in their 4-1 win over Norwich on Friday with a calf injury. Reds’ manager Klopp later confirmed the setback, quickly ruling him out of the trip to Istanbul.

“Wednesday he will not play,” he said. “With all my experience I can say that already.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea will be hoping N’Golo Kante will be fit to start after he had to make do with a substitute appearance against Manchester United.

Predicted Line-ups

1. Origi to continue over Mane

Sadio Mane’s late return due to African Cup of Nations commitments meant the Senegal forward was only fit to start on the bench against Norwich City on Friday.

Divock Origi was his replacement in the starting XI and performed well, scoring Liverpool’s fourth. And the Belgian will likely start again in Istanbul, with Mane then likely to return for their next Premier League game.

Adrian will be the goalkeeper in Alisson’s absence, while further rotation could see James Milner and Naby Keita come in in midfield.

2. Kante and Giroud to start

Chelsea have problems at the back but there is not much they can do to change that, personnel-wise, with Antonio Rudiger injured and David Luiz gone. As a result, Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma will be the centre-back pairing once more, in an unchanged back five from the United defeat.

But Lampard could make changes further forward, with Kante coming in for Mateo Kovacic to partner Jorginho at the base of midfield.

Ross Barkley could also make way after his sub-par performance at Old Trafford, being replaced by Christian Pulisic, while Europa League conqueror Olivier Giroud may start over Tammy Abraham.

3. Klopp to make six changes

With the games coming thick and fast, there is a big possibility that both managers could rotate their teams for the one-off showpiece.

And that’s exactly what the Daily Express expect Liverpool to do. Including the enforced switch in goal, the Express believe Klopp will make six changes from the starting XI that started against Norwich on Friday.

Keeping the front three the same, there could be a completely different midfield with Adam Lallana joining Keita and Milner, while Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip bring up a new centre-back pairing.

AFBSportsbet’s Prediction

2019-08-15 03:00:00

UEFA SUPER CUP – Liverpool vs Chelsea

PREGAME PREDICTION / TIPS

Our Prediction on Handicap:

Liverpool to win [email protected]

Chelsea to win [email protected]

Chelsea’s defensive problems were exploited by Manchester United on Sunday, and Liverpool will be expected to do similar damage in Istanbul. 3-0 Liverpool.