Two of the unbeaten teams of the league take on each other this weekend in what promises to be a thrilling contest filled with action-packed 90 minutes of top class football.
One look across the squads of both the teams reveal that some of the best players in the league play for them. And the teams are filled with match-winners whose individual brilliance can change the outcome of the match in an instant.
But, did you know that there have been players who had represented both the clubs in this fixture? It is rare to see clubs agreeing to sell players to direct title rivals. But we know that over the course of the years many players had switched their Blue jersey for a Red one and vice versa. Some of them are very well known, others have got lost into anonymity.
Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah, one of the best players in the league right now, was once a Chelsea player. At the age of 22, he became the first Egyptian player to sign up for the Blues, when he was bought by Jose Mourinho from Basel. But as it is seen with Mourinho so many times, he didn’t think that a young Mo Salah was ready for Premier League action yet. As a result, he was sparingly used in the 2014-15 campaign when Chelsea have crowned the league champions. He was never much appreciated at Stamford Bridge, it can be seen from the fact that he only played for the Blues 13 times in the league. What a shame. But he did manage to secure a move away from the club to Serie A eventually.
Β Joe Cole
Joe Cole, the attacking midfielder who was a regular player for the England national team in his career, played for the Blues for seven seasons. Unlike Mo Salah, he saw the best phase of his career with Chelsea, winning three league titles, two FA Cups and a League Cup. But after a successful spell with the Blues, he decided to move to Anfield on a free transfer in 2010. Upon his arrival, he was given the No. 10 jersey by the then manager Roy Hodgson. He was highly regarded by Liverpool legend Steven Gerard, who in an interview with The Guardian said this about Cole.
Nicolas Anelka
Nicolas Anelka changed clubs so many times in his career, and it is not surprising to find that he featured for two of the biggest English clubs at some point in his career. The Frenchman’s spell with the Red was a short one, in which he did manage a lot of first team football, with 20 appearances in total. But it is his spell with Chelsea that is much more memorable. Not only did he win the Premier League title with the Blues in 2009-10 season, but was also the Golden Boot winner with them in the previous season. Although he did play for both the clubs, his journey from Merseyside to West London was a long and interesting one.
Raul Meireles
The Portuguese midfielder only spent two seasons in the Premier League. Initially joining Liverpool in 2010 and then moving on to Chelsea the following season. Interestingly, unlike most of the players in this list he had a successful spell at both the clubs. Meireles was the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year for the 2010-11 campaign, ahead of the likes of Fernando Torres and Dimitar Berbatov. He was an important midfield player for the Blues in their Champions League winning campaign, though unfortunately for him, he missed the final because of his yellow card in the semi-final. All-in-all he was a player who was respected and loved by the fans of both the clubs.
Fernando Torres
Here’s the player who we’ve all been waiting for, Fernando Torres. The Spaniard was one of the most prolific striker of his time. He spent four seasons at both the clubs, initially with Liverpool and then with Chelsea. After joining Liverpool in 2007, he quickly established himself as their one of their best players in his first season. He became the fastest player to reach 50 goal mark for the Reds and was the first player to score more than 20 league goals in a season since Robbie Fowler. After such consistent performances, he moved on to the Stamford Bridge in January 2011. But, we all know what happened next was quite disastrous. He couldn’t replicate his goal scoring performances for the Blues, which could justify the Β£50 million price tag