Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso
Xabi Alonso is due to take his pre-match press conference at 1:30pm (UK time) today ahead of Chelsea's Carabao Cup fourth round clash away at Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Alonso is set to return to Anfield, where he spent five years playing for the Reds between 2004 and 2009, for the first time as Blues manager tomorrow evening. It's not the first time, however, Alonso has returned to Liverpool as a manager; having lost both at Bayer Leverkusen and Real Madrid.
Wednesday evening will be a different sort of test, though, with Alonso and his close friend Andoni Iraola expected to make a number of changes to their sides after their Premier League matches at the weekend. Chelsea were beaten at home to Tottenham on Saturday evening, while Liverpool got the better of high-flying Brighton at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues were humbled by Spurs and that has left an extremely sour taste in supporters' mouths. Alonso will be hoping his team can bounce back this week and we will find out whether they will have Joao Pedro to help with that in today's press conference.
The Brazilian forward missed Chelsea's defeat to Tottenham due to an injury. Alonso was asked post-match regarding the severity of Joao Pedro's injury and said he was due to be assessed on Sunday - so, we should hear more on that front later today.
football.london are live at Chelsea's Cobham training centre throughout the afternoon to bring you word-for-word updates.