Chelsea news: Which David Luiz will return… ‘Playstation player controlled by kid’ or 2012 Champions League defensive stalwart?
THIS evening will see another Premier League first for Stamford Bridge with a Friday evening kick off against old foes Liverpool.. but all eyes will be on David Luiz's return in blue shirt.
The rivalry built over the Mourinho/Benitez years has tempered recently with changes in management at both clubs seeming to bring a far friendlier atmosphere to proceedings, although I’m not so sure the supporters of each side will necessarily feel the same way.
Both Antonio Conte and Jurgen Klopp have been more than complimentary of each other in the run up to the game, with Conte stating: “I have great difficulty describing other managers but Jurgen is one of the best managers in the world.
"It will be a strong match – very tough against a strong team. I think Liverpool are a really good team.”
Klopp also lauded Conte is in saying: “The very important thing is he is a great manager, something like the Pep Guardiola of Juventus if you want.
"He created their special type of play and had a very successful time there and with the national team.
"It is quite impressive what he has done.”
Can you feel the love? Perhaps not, despite the Conte/Klopp bromance blossoming the players and more so the fans will want to win this one more than most, and it’s not going to be a walk in the park, Klopp is no Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool have scored more Premier League goals this year (2016) any other side, with 50 goals so far and just under half (24) of them scored away from home.
However Conte has not lost any of his last 30 home league matches as a manager (W28 D2), winning the last 21. Tonight, something will have to give.
An injury to John Terry in the final minutes of the 2-2 draw with Swansea has made some supporters a little edgier about the match with David Luiz set to make his Chelsea debut following his deadline day return to the club he left in 2014.
Luiz is a player that’s divided opinion in the past, a bit like Marmite, you either love him or you hate him, and the big question will be what version of David Luiz will turn out for Chelsea this season?
Will we be seeing the ‘Playstation Footballer’ controlled by a kid again? Or will we see the strong, capable defensive stalwart we all remember from the Champions League final?
Conte confirmed what most of us knew already, given Terry’s inability to miraculously heal, that Luiz will start against Liverpool: “Tomorrow, David Luiz will play for the first time with us and we are confident about him. We expect him to play very well, we know he’s a good player. “
That Luiz is a good player isn’t in doubt, we know that from his time before and his game has matured at PSG, he’s older and wiser, yet he is still David Luiz and prone to the odd moment of the spectacular, or the shocking.
Let’s hope that at the end of 90 minutes we’re breathing a collective sigh of relief and thinking “what a player!” rather than “what the hell have we done?”
David, it’s over to you.