Away at Anfield last term, a composed performance was produced by Maresca's side. We dominated possession and registered more shots on goal; Slot even admitted later in the campaign Liverpool 'had to suffer more than in any other game'.

It didn't result in victory that day, but it was a different story when the Reds visited Stamford Bridge during the final weeks of the season. Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring that afternoon and an own goal from Jarell Quansah and a penalty from Cole Palmer sealed all three points.

Yet while Maresca acknowledges that we performed well against the Reds last term, he believes a new challenge awaits his side at Stamford Bridge.

'We played both games against Liverpool very good last season,' the Blues head coach explained. 'Unfortunately, we lost there but won at home. But every game is different, especially from one season to another.

'We will try to prepare the game in the best way we can for tomorrow and try to win the game. But even if in the last one or two games they have dropped points, they have shown the reason why they won the Premier League last season and they will be there until the end.’

Chelsea were in Champions League action in midweek and we came away with a hard-fought victory over Benfica. Liverpool, in contrast, were beaten away at Galatasaray, a defeat which followed a 2-1 loss away to Crystal Palace in the top flight.

But Maresca is not paying too much attention to the Reds' recent results. ‘I don’t think that now it’s better to play Liverpool because they dropped points in the last two games – it's always a tough game against a big team,' he said.

‘There is a vulnerability to every team in the world. They have lost one or two games, which shows there is vulnerability. But this is not just from Liverpool, it’s from all the teams in the world. And in the Premier League, you know how difficult it is, you can drop points against any team.’

One player who will be hoping to feature for the first time against Liverpool is summer arrival Estevao Willian. The 18-year-old has featured in all but one of our matches this season and Maresca discussed the Brazilian's development in the demanding English game.

He said: 'Estevao reminds me a lot of Cole (Palmer) when he was with me at the Under-23s at Manchester City, and when he was with us in the first team [at Man City].

'I think Cole’s path has been similar to Esteavo’s in terms of starting wide as a winger and slowly moving inside. The Premier League is different from any other country in the world; if you want play in the middle of the pitch you have to be prepared physically.

'Cole now is like that – in the past he needed to develop that – and I see Estevao in the same way.’