Our young Blues' game against Liverpool this afternoon kicks off at 2pm as we seek three points which will keep the pressure on at the top of the table.

Chelsea have been in fine form, winning five of our last six matches in the PL2 and a big reason for that is the number of goals we have scored in the league this season.

Our boys have combined for 42 goals, the second highest in the league behind Manchester City.

There are seven players on three goals or more in the league and leading the way for the development squad is Omari Hutchinson, who is the team's top scorer with seven goals.

Last time out

Our young Blues bounced back nicely from defeat against West Ham United, with a 3-2 win away at Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

We fought hard for victory and needed a late goal from Hutchinson to give us the win in the 90th minute.

It was Hutchinson who gave us the lead early on but the home team responded with two goals either side of half-time.

A lovely team move which ended with a good finish into the bottom corner from Dion Rankine drew us level in the game and then Hutchinson dispatched a minute into second-half stoppage time to give us a deserved winner.

Our opponents

Liverpool sit fifth in the PL2 standings currently but have won one of their last four games in the league.

Despite this form, our young Blues will be wary of the threat that they often pose.

In the 2021/22 season, both sides were involved in fantastic games for the neutral which had a total of 11 goals across two games.

The first of the two was at Kingsmeadow and saw us come back from 3-1 down and win 4-3 as Lewis Hall grabbed the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

The second game which was later in the season was a 2-2 draw and we needed a late goal again to leave with a point. Jude Soonsup-Bell smashed home an equaliser in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Joe Haigh scored our first goal in that game.

Academy news

In other academy news, Chinonso Chibueze has signed his first professional contract with the club, agreeing a deal which keeps him at the club until at least the summer of 2025.