Alonso returns to Anfield as Chelsea manager amid injury crisis

Xabi Alonso walks back into Anfield on Wednesday not as the Liverpool head coach many once assumed he was destined to become, but in charge of the visiting dugout for Chelsea.

According to Independent Sport, Liverpool had long been expected to turn to their former midfielder to succeed either Jürgen Klopp or Arne Slot, but the club instead identified Andoni Iraola as the better stylistic match for how Anfield wants its team to play.

Alonso has faced his old club twice before from the opposite bench and lost both times — a 4-0 defeat with Bayer Leverkusen in 2024 and a 1-0 loss with Real Madrid last year, Independent Sport reported.

Asked about the prospect of Chelsea finding the net at Anfield this time, Alonso said he would celebrate "for sure".

Team news is likely to dominate the build-up regardless of sentiment. Chelsea go into the fixture without their goalkeeper, their captain and their main striker, Simon Johnson of the Athletic noted in reporting relayed by Yahoo Sports.

Joao Pedro's absence is the most pressing concern up front, and Yahoo Sports set out three ways Alonso could cover for him, none of them straightforward.

The first is simply reverting to Danny Welbeck in the same system used for most of the season, as Chelsea did in earlier rounds of the EFL Cup. Yet Alonso did not introduce Welbeck against Tottenham until the 88th minute, a reluctance Yahoo Sports suggested points to doubts about relying on him against stronger opposition.

The second option, pushing Morgan Rogers further forward as a makeshift No.9, was Alonso's first instinct against Spurs and, per Yahoo Sports, did not work either.

The third is handing the central striking role to Emmanuel Emegha, who has only just returned to training after an injury that kept him out for the entire season so far, fitness allowing him to be considered.

Chelsea's defensive personnel are also under scrutiny heading into the game. Jamie Carragher told The Overlap Fan Debate with Sky Bet that £52million summer signing Maxence Lacroix "does not look comfortable" operating under Alonso, Metro Football reported.

Lacroix, who arrived from Crystal Palace, has featured in all eight Premier League matches Chelsea have played this season, mostly at the centre of a back five but shifted to right centre-back whenever Alonso has switched to a four-man defence.

He was asked to fill both roles in last weekend's 2-0 home defeat to Tottenham and struggled in the process, according to Metro Football.

Carragher contrasted Lacroix's form with that of right-back Josh Acheampong, saying of the Chelsea backline: "I look at the lad at right-back, I think he's doing really well, Josh Acheampong, I think he's doing really well."

He went further in comparing Chelsea's summer business in defence and goal to the arrival of Emiliano Martínez, saying: "It felt like he'd brought a goalkeeper in the summer, Emiliano Martínez, and he's obviously not the same goalkeeper he was when he won the World Cup."

With Chelsea short of their first-choice striker, captain and goalkeeper, and their big-money defender under pressure after the loss to Tottenham, Alonso's selection calls at Anfield will be watched as closely as the result itself.