Chelsea

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

In Brazil, Estevao had already emerged as a star player for one of the country's biggest clubs, and earned seven caps for the national team which is now led by legendary former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.

It has, understandably, taken slightly longer for him to settle in England having arrived after the conclusion of this summer's Club World Cup.

"We know that a young player can suffer when he moves from another country to settle down here and to play for this club," said Chelsea assistant coach Willy Caballero, in the absence of Maresca after his red card.

"So the players, first of all, are doing a great job to involve all the new players. And when we have the chance, we work.

"I can speak with him most of the time in Spanish because he understands. And he's a really good kid. And we are so happy for him because he needs it, we need it, and he needs a goal as well."

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin believes Estevao is "going to be special".

"Every time any Chelsea player gets the ball, they try to find Estevao," said Nevin on BBC Radio 5 Live. "That tells you a story about a player.

"He's an 18-year-old but everyone wants to give him the ball. That just shows what he's capable of and what he's doing in training. He's going to be special."

Read the full analysis on Estevao's performance against Liverpool

Pundits Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney join host Gabby Logan to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures and Friday's action.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

• Manchester United 2-0 Sunderland

• Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Eighteen-year-old winger Estevao delivered Chelsea's best moment of the early part of the season with his last-gasp winner against the champions.

It was the first Blues goal for a wonderkid who has already started games for Brazil under Carlo Ancelotti - and who is regarded by many back home as the next star attacker from one of football's great talent factories.

Before his £51m move to Chelsea, Estevao had already become the first under-18 player to record 20 goals and assists for his former club Palmeiras, beating a record once held by Neymar.

His first Blues goal has taken a while to arrive but it came just when they needed it, as manager Maresca threw him - and other teenagers Marc Guiu and Gittens - on to win the match.

Estevao might be Chelsea's rising star, but Ecuador midfielder Caicedo is arguably the Blues' key man.

The £115m signing opened the scoring with a stunning strike and came close with another long-range effort in the 89th minute.

Then he showcased his defensive qualities by tracking Robertson's dangerous deep run four minutes into injury time.

Caicedo - who nearly joined Liverpool - must be in discussions for the best midfielder in the league.

One disappointing note for Chelsea will be the loss of their centre-back pairing Josh Acheampong and Benoit Badiashile to injury.

Their withdrawals in the second half leave the Blues without six central defenders with five injured and one out through suspension.

Chelsea assistant manager Willy Caballero on manager Enzo Maresca after he was sent off for celebrating a last-minute winner against Liverpool: "He's OK. He's so happy now. Of course he cannot be here now but we are so happy that we achieved the three points in the last seconds. We are so happy and so proud. The players did a fantastic job. Now is a good break for many of them and hopefully we can recover a few more players and start the new cycle of games with energy."

On scoring in the last minute: "It is extra special because you win energy, trust, confidence in the process. I think the atmosphere in the stadium gives us more. It's unforgettable. So now we have to take this to keep growing. It's a shame we have the break now but we have a really good connection between the players and the supporters. We have a very young squad."

On the team's unity: "We suffer another red card today (laughs) but we finish strong. We know that we are a good team that plays football and we create chances in the first half. We deserve the second goal in the second half. In the way we fought today, with four full-backs in the back four is incredible. All of us are so proud of our players. We don't look for excuses, we find solutions."

On injuries to Badiashile and Acheampong: "They are OK. They were a little bit concerned about their situations but we talked with them and they are OK. They need this break to recover well."

On Maresca's celebration: "It's something special for any manager, no manager can hold inside what they feel. Unfortunately for him he was already on a yellow. We are all human beings. We have been players, we love to see that. For sure all of us we can learn from that as well."

Did you know?

• Chelsea are now unbeaten across their last five Premier League home games against Liverpool (W2 D3), their longest such run against the Reds since 1991-2003 (13 games, W9 D4).

• Enzo Maresca and Arne Slot both received yellow cards (Maresca also a red), the first game of the 2025/26 Premier League season in which both managers were shown cards.

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Liverpool's display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Acheampong, Badiashile, Cucurella, Caicedo, James, Pedro Neto, Fernandez, Garnacho, Joao Pedro

Subs: Jorgensen, Slonina, Hato, Emenalo, Lavia, Buonanotte, Gittens, Estevao Willian, Guiu

Liverpool XI: Mamardashvili, Bradley, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Salah, Isak, Gakpo

Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Robertson, Frimpong, Jones, Ekitike, Chiesa, Wirtz

There are four games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Leeds United v Tottenham (12:30)

• Arsenal v West Ham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Manchester United v Sunderland - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Chelsea v Liverpool (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 15:00 BST unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Arsenal v West Ham" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Chelsea v Liverpool", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Chelsea's back-to-back league defeats by Manchester United and Brighton have been a classic case of them shooting themselves in the foot.

If they had kept 11 men on the pitch in both matches it would have had a huge impact.

So, that is their first aim here and if it is 11 v 11 then Chelsea can hurt Liverpool, even without Cole Palmer, because the Reds are at sixes and sevens at the back.

I am tempted to go with a draw but this is a big game and I want to be brave and pick a winner.

I am going to stick my neck out and back my old team to make it a hat-trick of defeats for Arne Slot.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea, who have lost back-to-back league fixtures, take on a Liverpool side beaten in their past two matches. BBC Sport examines some of the key themes before Saturday's game.

This match pits the Club World Cup winners against the reigning Premier League champions but neither side are exactly at their best right now.

Defeats by Manchester United and Brighton have left Chelsea at risk of losing three top-flight games in a row for the first time since May 2023.

The Blues did at least get back to winning ways in midweek, defeating Benfica 1-0 on Jose Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge. However, the Londoners had Joao Pedro sent off in the closing stages, their third red card in the space of four games.

While it was not as costly as Robert Sanchez's dismissal at Old Trafford or Trevoh Chalobah's versus Brighton, it has led to increased scrutiny of Chelsea's poor disciplinary record under Enzo Maresca. They have received 118 cards in the Premier League since the start of last season, more than any other club going into the latest round of matches.

Could Reds lose three in a row for first time under Slot?

Liverpool's run of seven successive wins came to a juddering halt in the past week, with the Reds beaten at Crystal Palace and Galatasaray, and now in danger of losing three games in a row for the first time under Arne Slot.

The Dutchman has pinpointed small margins as the difference but insists his side "are not so far" away from the levels they showed last season.

One area where there is clear room for improvement is when it comes to defending set-pieces, with four of the seven Premier League goals they have conceded coming in this fashion.

At this stage 12 months ago, the Merseysiders had conceded just two top-flight goals, neither of which was from a set-piece. They also earned four clean sheets in their first six matches, twice as many as in the current campaign.

Despite changes to personnel leaving Liverpool with a slightly more attacking line-up, they haven't faced more shots or shots on target in the current campaign – those numbers are largely similar. But they are conceding far more high-quality chances, with the expected goals total by their opponents 2.4 greater than at the same stage last year.

As a result, there has been a dramatic drop in the Reds' save percentage, which has fallen from almost 90% to 56%. First-choice goalkeeper Alisson will miss the trip to Stamford Bridge through injury so a testing Premier League debut awaits for Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will need to be given better protection, particularly from set-pieces.

Nicola Pearson
BBC Sport journalist

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge (kick-off 17:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Maresca confirmed there will be a "meeting" about Cole Palmer during the international break to assess when he can return. He also added that they will be without eight players on Saturday, including suspended Trevoh Chalobah.

• The Chelsea boss feels they did "very, very well" in the first four or five games of the season, but recent ones have been more "complicated" because of red cards and the injury situation. He added: "Slowly, we will again be where we need to be."

• On whether the Blues have a discipline problem: "You have to analyse [them] case by case - whether it's a red card for bad intention or for bad discipline. The Brighton and Manchester United red cards are different. It's the decision that you take in two or three seconds - whether or not you foul. It's difficult."

• He added: "I don't see any discipline problem. Even if we concede red cards, it's not a problem. It's for different reasons."

• Clarifying previous comments around Liverpool being impossible to catch, Maresca explained: "There is vulnerability about everything in the world, not just Liverpool. After five games, they had 15 points, but now they lost one or two games and that shows there is vulnerability.. In Premier League you can drop points against any team."

• On whether the Reds are the measuring stick for Chelsea: "Yes, I consider them the best team, at this moment, in England. We are improving, trying to solve problems and find solutions. At the end, we are going to be there close."

• Striker Marc Guiu, who was recalled from his loan at Sunderland but has yet to feature, has been "much better [in training] compared to the first weeks" and "will get minutes and games".

• On whether he would consider playing Estevao Willian as a number 10 in Palmer's absence: "Estevao reminds me of Cole when Cole was with me in the under-23s at Manchester City. Cole's path is similar to Estevao path - starting wide as winger and then slowly moving inside. The Premier League is different to other leagues - you have to be physically prepared to be number 10. Cole developed that and I see Estevao in same way."

Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to live commentary of Chelsea v Liverpool on BBC Radio 5 Live at 17:30 on Saturday

Dan Roan
Sports editor

Image source, Getty Images

A decision on whether to scrap the Premier League's controversial Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and adopt an "alternative system" is "coming up", says chief executive Richard Masters.

The current regulations, introduced in 2015-16 to prevent clubs from overspending, allow losses of £105m over a three-year reporting cycle.

However, they have been criticised by several top-flight teams for limiting their ability to invest.

BBC Sport has been told a decision on any changes is likely to be made at a meeting in November.

In February, clubs chose to continue with PSR for the current season.

However a squad cost ratio (SCR) system of financial control was adopted by the Premier League on a shadowing, non-binding basis.

SCR is similar to Uefa's existing financial rules and allows clubs to spend up to a percentage of their total revenues on squad-related costs.

Nine of the league's 20 clubs already have to comply with Uefa's SCR as a result of qualifying for Europe. Both Chelsea and Aston Villa were fined by Uefa in July for breaching the rules.

Asked about SCR at the Leaders sports conference in London, Masters said: "We are talking to our clubs about an alternative system. That's not to say we don't think the PSR system works."

He added: "It's about closer alignment with European regulation, which is squad cost ratio, which is a revenue test. In Uefa, it's now set at 70%. Our system will be 85% because we always want our clubs to have the ability to invest.

"The Premier League has been built on the back of investment in which international capital flows [are] coming in. We don't want that to be to be stifled off."

Read more here

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Fresh from winning the Club World Cup, a triumph in the Conference League, a return to Champions League football and unprecedented investment in the squad, things should be rosy between Chelsea's ownership and supporters.

But one month into the season relations between parts of the fanbase and the club hierarchy have turned sour.

Issues around tickets, particularly the resale of tickets and touting for in-demand matches, are at the heart of the matter.

So what is driving fan frustration, what is the club doing about it and what does it say about the current climate in the Premier League?

The cheapest adult ticket for the Benfica match in the Champions League this week was £66 for members and £71 for non-members. By comparison, Arsenal charge a minimum of £78 for their Category A matches, while Tottenham charge £71.

Chelsea sources, when asked by BBC Sport, said their price rises align with English football trends.

They added that fans can access a cheaper rate by purchasing a bundle for all four home matches - against Benfica, Ajax, Barcelona, and Pafos - and noted that the elected fan advisory board, which includes supporters' group members, was consulted before the ticketing policy was announced.

Chelsea are unique in that they have particularly outsized demand for matches amid efforts to expand their 40,000-seater stadium or, indeed, build a new one under the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital ownership.

They have roughly 28,000 season ticket holders, between 4,000 and 5,000 tickets available to members and about 3,000 for away supporters - with the rest being available to hospitality, including the dugout club charging (likely a Premier League record) £12,500 for a single seat behind the home and away benches for big matches last season.

There were said to be about 90,000 members in 2024-25 but it is unclear what proportion were touts.

In a report on the wider cost of football last season, Manchester United Supporters' Trust CEO Duncan Drasdo said: "We are all fighting the same fight on ticket prices. Clubs are exploiting loyalty and fans are united in saying enough is enough."

His comments came after 19 of the Premier League's 20 clubs raised their ticket prices before the 2024-25 season, prompting the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) to start a campaign called 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty'.

Tens of thousands of tickets are listed on third-party websites, including Vivid Seats, where Chelsea owner Boehly is a director.

Read more on Chelsea and tickets

Need to catch up on Chelsea's win over Benfica?

Take a look at our analysis above or match highlights below.

Chelsea are confident they will be able to sign 30-year-old AC Milan and France goalkeeper Mike Maignan. (ASRomalive - in Italian), external

Bayern Munich intend to keep on-loan Blues striker Nicolas Jackson on a permanent basis even if the conditions for their obligation to buy on his deal is not met. (TBR Football), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Nizaar Kinsella
Chelsea reporter at Stamford Bridge

Image source, Getty Images

Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has called on players to "learn" from a run of three red cards in four matches.

The Blues beat Benfica in the Champions League but striker Joao Pedro was sent off after Trevoh Chalobah and Robert Sanchez were dismissed in league defeats against Brighton and Manchester United.

When asked about the recent run of ill-discipline, Cucurella said: "We need to improve things. It's difficult to play with 10 men, but it is not an excuse.

"We need to learn that with 10 men we can suffer. The last game against Brighton, we played the last 40 minutes with 10 men and then we lost the game."

Cucurella is known to be an aggressive defender but has only been sent off once in his entire career, adding: "I put a lot of intensity to help the team and I think it is one of my qualities. I hope to continue in this good way!

"I try to give my experience to the team and help the young lads. When I arrived here, I suffered tough moments but it became better. That's football, you have to suffer the tough moments because the good moments always arrive."

New signing Alejandro Garnacho earned just his second start against Benfica on Tuesday and forced Richard Rios's match-deciding own goal.

Cucurella added that the red cards have held back the £40m summer signing from Manchester United.

"He is a very important player with a lot of qualities," he continued. "It is true in the league that we have had 10 men a lot and it is difficult to put on a winger because we have been mostly defending.

"I think today he had an opportunity and showed his level and that he can help the team. He had a really good game and I hope he can do it again on Saturday (at home to Liverpool)."

Image source, Getty Images

Pedro Neto believes Chelsea showed "resilience" in the 1-0 victory over Benfica in the Champions League on Tuesday but backs his side to do "even better" before hosting Premier League champions Liverpool on Saturday.

"We learned a lot from the first game [in the 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich] and we are really happy," Neto told Chelsea's club website.

"I think the team did really well. We knew the difficulties we had in the first game and we tried to work hard to manage moments in this game. I think we showed the resilience of the team.

"Benfica are a tough team to face at home. We knew we would have to work hard. We played well, we could've controlled the match more with the quality we have, but we are really happy with the three points.

"I always try to improve and do the best for the team, and I think we worked hard as a group. It's a really important win.

"A win in this competition, the Champions League, shows what we can do, and I think we can do even better. We will be ready to play against Liverpool."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Chelsea defender Mario Melchiot says the Blues' run of red cards "cannot happen" and the team have to be "smarter".

Joao Pedro was dismissed for a second yellow card deep into stoppage time in Tuesday's win over Benfica to continue a run of three red cards in four matches.

The Brazil international will now be suspended for Chelsea's next Champions League match against Ajax.

"Sometimes you have to be smart about things," Melchiot told Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"You had two minutes before the end when Pedro gets the red card. The game before that was [Trevoh] Chalobah, the game before that before that was [Robert] Sanchez.

"The last two people can say were moments in games where things happen but Joao Pedro yesterday has to be smart.

"It's your second yellow card with two minutes to go. This is nothing to do with it being necessary. Sometimes it's necessary and you have to take one for the team and you don't care.

"This one wasn't having to take one for the team - it was so far away from his goal. You have to be a little bit smarter. Regardless of you playing in the Champions League, the emotions are going, you have to think.

"Don't pick up cards like that. The whole team have to be smarter because things like this cannot happen to this team. You miss key players now. You already have one striker injured [Liam Delap] and now you'll have one striker suspended.

"What are you going to do next?"

Listen to the full chat from 1:18:00 on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

We asked for your views on Chelsea's 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League.

Here are some of your comments:

Nick: The performance didn't really matter - after the defeat at Bayern Munich, and self-destructing in consecutive Premier League games, all that mattered was securing three points. Job done.

Chris: I would like to know what has happened to the discipline at the club. Joao Pedro manages to pick up two yellow cards in 35 minutes on the pitch, leaving us with 10 men again and then we struggle to put away a side like Benfica. I am really starting to lose my patience with Enzo Maresca!

Steve: This is surely the beginning of the end for Maresca. The team is obviously ravaged by injury, but in an age where dynamic direct football seems to be returning, he's still playing predictable slow and sideways football. Chelsea have some good young players but they need letting off the leash, not to be held back.

Mike: We showed our inexperience as the second half went on. We couldn't keep the ball and gave Benfica momentum. Fortunately they couldn't take advantage.

James: It wasn't pretty but a win is a win. At least the red card was late enough not to prove costly. Enzo Fernandez carried on his excellent form and did not let the pressure get to him. Good to see Mourinho back at the bridge too!

Nick: This will do a very young, inexperienced team the world of good in the Champions League against a team with much more experience and a determination to try and get Chelsea players sent off. That it worked did not reflect well on the referee, who was harsh with Pedro's first yellow and could have booked several Benfica players for simulation.

Paul: Good job we were playing a poor Benfica side who had enough possession and opportunities to have won the game. Pedro Neto had enough space on the right wing first half to graze a herd of cows yet not one Chelsea player had the skill and brains to find him.

Pete: Slightly worrying about the shaky defense and the sheer lack of creativity without Cole Palmer. Neto was brilliant, as was Marc Cucurella. Moises Caicedo was fantastic and I thought Enzo did his very best. We lacked that killer pass or link-up play with a front man, not to mention another red card. I think we need patience - a fully fit squad could be a real threat.