After a below-par 2022/23 season for both sides, the meeting between Chelsea and Liverpool will likely be a hotly contested battle, setting an early precedent, with undoubtedly the minimum objective of regaining their spots in the Champions League.
Freshly appointed Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino oversaw a promising pre-season, claiming victories over Premier League rivals Brighton, Fulham and Football League new boys Wrexham.
£89m January arrival Mykhailo Mudryk has given fans optimism with his performances so far, whilst England Under-21 EURO winner Levi Colwill has continued his impressive form in the heart of defence.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have been out in Germany for their preparations, where they defeated second-tier German side Karlsruher SC before playing out a lively 4-4 draw against Greuther Furth, who also operate in the 2. Bundesliga.
Victories over Leicester City and Darmstadt sandwiched a narrow defeat to Bayern Munich in Singapore, with Darwin Núñez scoring four times across the five fixtures, sporting his new No 9 shirt.
Luis Diaz could be like a new signing for the Reds, who missed the Colombian for much of last season through injury. The flying winger netted a quite brilliant goal in Liverpool's outing against Greuther Furth, standing up a defender before stroking the ball home past the helpless goalkeeper.
So with preparations complete, how do Chelsea and Liverpool fare against each other? Football FanCast has taken a look at the stats…
Chelsea vs Liverpool: Who has the better head-to-head record?
This fixture has produced some of the most intense, gruelling and high-quality football the division has ever seen.
Both sides have experienced periods of domination, with Liverpool's successful era coming more recently under the stewardship of Jürgen Klopp, whilst Chelsea have been starved of the league title for over six years.
Although, Chelsea fans can't complain too much, since they have won the Premier League title on five separate occasions compared to Liverpool's one.
However, despite the west London club having considerably more triumphs during the Premier League era, the head-to-head stats favour Liverpool, who have racked up 19 more wins than their rivals.
Chelsea wins: 51 Draws: 39 Liverpool wins: 70 Chelsea vs Liverpool: Who has more wins at Stamford Bridge?
It should be no surprise that Chelsea have notched more victories at Stamford Bridge than the Reds, especially when you consider the 86-game unbeaten run they went on at home in the league, spanning between February 2004 to October 2008.
Liverpool, though, have more than held their own at the Bridge, winning 22 times in total and forcing a draw on 19 occasions. Indeed, they were the team to break down the Bridge's fortress in 2008 thanks to a deflected Xabi Alonso strike.
Chelsea wins: 39 Draws: 19 Liverpool wins: 22 Chelsea vs Liverpool: Who has more wins at Anfield?
This head-to-head statistic paints a truly dominant picture for the Reds, who have claimed victory on 48 occasions, dwarfing Chelsea's tally in the reverse fixture.
However, perhaps more remarkably, the Merseyside club have only conceded defeat 12 times, as they made Anfield a fortress of their own in their 70s and 80s heyday, as well as in more recent years.
Liverpool wins: 48 Draws: 20 Chelsea wins: 12 Chelsea vs Liverpool: Who has the better domestic cup record?
Chelsea edge it in this head-to-head statistic, despite trailing Liverpool by four trophies when combining their FA and League Cup triumphs.
The most recent cup meeting came last year in the 2022 FA Cup final at Wembley, where Klopp's side defeated the then-European champions on penalties to claim a domestic cup double.
Astonishingly, less than three months prior to that fixture, the two clubs met in the 2022 League Cup final, with the same outcome unfolding… Liverpool reigning victorious via a penalty shootout.
Chelsea wins: 11 Draws: 3 Liverpool: 8 Chelsea vs Liverpool: Who has the better European record?
The two clubs have a dead-even head-to-head record in European competitions, but Liverpool have the more recent bragging rights once more, claiming victory over their rivals in Istanbul four years ago to win the UEFA Super Cup for the first time since 2005.
The other 10 meetings all came in the Champions League, including three semi-final clashes.
Chelsea wins: 3 Draws: 5 Liverpool: 3 Chelsea vs Liverpool: What were the last 5 meetings?
4th April 2023 – Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool: Managerless Chelsea held Liverpool to a goalless draw, with caretaker boss Bruno Saltor's side having the better chances. Klopp's Reds ended a three-game losing run but remained in eighth place, seven points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
21st January 2023 – Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea: Another stalemate… the last two meetings certainly haven't been anything to write home about, although rather unsurprisingly, they did come during a season in which both clubs lacked a consistent show of quality throughout, with their respective league finishes evidence of that.
14th May 2022 – Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool: The aforementioned 2022 FA Cup final saw Liverpool come out on top, with another 0-0 ensuing in normal time before the Merseyside club clinched victory via a shootout. Kostas Tsimikas netted the all-important penalty.
27th February 2022 – Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool: Yes, you've guessed it… another 0-0! Although it had to be settled one way or another, and it again came via penalties, with the Merseyside giants defeating the Blues 11-10.
2nd January 2022 – Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool: Finally… goals in a fixture between the pair! Chelsea came from two goals down at Stamford Bridge to level just before half-time through Christian Pulisic. However, the second half wasn't as frantic as the first, with no breakthrough from either side.
Who has played for Chelsea and Liverpool?
Mohamed Salah (Chelsea 2014-2016; Liverpool 2017-present): Much of Salah's two-and-a-half-year stint at Chelsea was spent out on loan. Firstly with Fiorentina, where he netted six times in 16 appearances before another fruitful loan spell followed at AS Roma, who were obligated to buy the Egyptian after a set number of appearances for a fee in the region of £12.8m.
Just a year later, off the back of a 19-goal season in Italy, Salah penned a five-year contract at Liverpool, signing in a deal worth £34.3m. The rest, as they say, is history…
Fernando Torres (Liverpool 2007-2011; Chelsea 2011-2015): Torres, the fresh-faced forward from Atletico Madrid, enjoyed a prolific spell in Merseyside with Liverpool under the stewardship of Rafael Benítez, scoring 81 goals in 142 games.
Chelsea then came calling in 2011 and signed the Spaniard for a then-British record £50m, but he struggled to replicate the lofty heights he set at Liverpool, picking up the unwanted 'flop' tag by the media.
Joe Cole (Chelsea 2003-2010; Liverpool 2010-2013): Cole won a plethora of trophies at Chelsea and appeared 281 times for the club, scoring 39 goals whilst providing 44 assists.
His stint at Liverpool was the complete opposite, featuring just 42 times during his three-year stay, scoring five goals and providing three assists.
Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool 2007-2010; Chelsea 2010-2013): Benayoun's time at Liverpool was considerably more successful on an individual basis than his stint at Chelsea, but his only trophy across the two spells came with the west London club, where he won the Europa League in 2013. The 102-cap Israel international, however, only featured 24 times for the Blues in total, scoring just one goal, in comparison to the 134 appearances he made in a red shirt, where he netted 29 times whilst laying on 19 assists.
Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea 2009-2013; Liverpool 2013-2019): Sturridge appeared just short of 100 times for Chelsea and notched a respectable 24 goals for the club, but it wasn't until his £12m move to Liverpool that he really displayed his talent.
In his debut season for the Reds, the England international scored a whopping 25 goals across all competitions and was part of a prolific partnership with Luis Suárez.
That year, his goals nearly fired Liverpool to what was an elusive Premier League title triumph, but they fell just short in the end, eventually losing out to Manchester City. Sturridge's six-year stay at Liverpool saw him appear 160 times, scoring 68 goals and providing 26 assists.
What is Chelsea's biggest victory over Liverpool?
28th August 1937 – Chelsea 6-1 Liverpool: Chelsea's biggest victory over Liverpool came decades before the Premier League was formed.
The 6-1 thumping came in what was then Division One, with goals from Jimmy Argue, Harry Burgess, Billy Mitchell and a George Mills hat-trick. Mills was the first player in Chelsea's history to score a century of league goals, and also the last player to register a hat-trick against Liverpool.
What is Liverpool's biggest victory over Chelsea?
21st September 1996 – Liverpool 5-1 Chelsea: Liverpool's biggest victory over Chelsea came far more recently, but it still remains a while since either side have thrashed the other.
The clash saw Liverpool handsomely defeat the west Londoners thanks to goals from Robbie Fowler, John Barnes, a Patrik Berger brace and an own goal from Andy Myers.
Key match stats
This will be the 193rd meeting between these two teams The two sides couldn't be separated in normal time in the last six meetings Liverpool haven't lost at Stamford Bridge since May 2018 There hasn't been a league winner in this fixture since March 2021, when Mason Mount's goal secured three points Chelsea vs Liverpool: Classic meetings
27th April 2014 – Liverpool 0-2 Chelsea (Premier League): Demba Ba capitalised on Steven Gerrard's slip to put the away side 1-0 to the good before Willian added a second in stoppage time to dent Liverpool's title hopes.
14th April 2009 – Chelsea 4-4 Liverpool (Champions League): Chelsea defeated Benítez's defiant Liverpool side 7-5 on aggregate in the Champions League quarter-final second leg. With seven minutes remaining, the Reds led 4-3 and needed just one more goal to progress, but Frank Lampard found an equaliser to set up a semi-final clash against Barcelona in the last four.
26th October 2008 – Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool (Premier League): Liverpool ended Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge which ran from February 2004 to October 2008.