Liverpool v Chelsea: Uefa Super Cup 2019 – live!

4 min: Giroud tries to spring Pedro clear down the right, but Van Dijk blocks the pass with his arm. Illegally. Stephanie Frappart penalises the defender and ignores Azpilicueta’s appeals for a yellow card. Moments later Pulisic threatens in Liverpool’s area, but Matip’s too strong for the American.

2 min: Sadio Mane has started in a central role for Liverpool, with Mo Salah on the right of the front three and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the left.

Peep! They’re off. Liverpool, all in red, get the game underway, kicking from left to right in the first half. Chelsea are in blue and the pitch doesn’t look great.

Here come the teams! Liverpool won the Super Cup in 1977, 2001 and 2005. Chelsea won it in 1998, beating Real Madrid thanks to a late goal from Gus Poyet.

Pre-match emails

“It’s a quaint concept this “needing time,” but like that old zinger “the social contract” I wonder if Chelsea fans have now changed with the culture and would accept that if this does not work in the next couple of weeks then the trapdoor into the waiting taxi is fine by them,” Ian Copestake says.

“Besiktas Park?” Peter Oh says. “Isn’t that where Loris Karius was loaned to? He’s probably in the stadium, right? Well, nothing against Adrián, but couldn’t Kloppo slap some gloves on the much-maligned German keeper, nudge him onto the field and thereby give him a shot at European cup final redemption?”

Frank Lampard speaks! “I wasn’t here last year, winning the Europa League, they fought for this. We want to win it. The lads are ready. The players who got us here last year deserve a crack.”

Jurgen Klopp speaks! “You have to consider all the different circumstances. Maybe we have to go a little longer. It all has to be involved.”

Liverpool make a few changes to the side that beat Norwich last Friday. In come Joe Gomez, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane, replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gini Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi. Meanwhile former West Ham goalkeeper Adrian is in for the injured Alisson, while Naby Keita is out with a thigh strain.

Chelsea have a more experienced and conservative look to them than they did against Manchester United. In comes N’Golo Kante as part of a midfield three, Christian Pulisic makes his first start and Olivier Giroud is up front. The players who drop out are the youthful Mason Mount, Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham.

You’ll also notice that the referee is Stephanie Frappert, who’s making history by becoming the first woman to officiate a major men’s European match. She refereed the women’s World Cup final in July and has taken charge of Ligue 1 matches since April.

Liverpool: Adrian; Gomez, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Milner; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Mane.

Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, Alonso; Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic; Pedro, Giroud, Pulisic.

Referee: Stephanie Frappart (France)

Hello. The news cycle has a habit of moving at dizzying speed in football. Three days after being crushed by Manchester United, Frank Lampard is in Istanbul and has a chance of winning a European trophy in his second match as Chelsea’s new manager. Take that, Jose! In your shiny studio. On that sofa. Doing your punditry up there. It’s Lampard in the dugout now and though he’s faced criticism since Sunday’s defeat it is possible to see what he’s trying to do at a club labouring under a transfer embargo and wounded from the sale of Eden Hazard to Real Madrid. If the youngsters develop then Chelsea could have quite the side on their hands in time.

The problem with that theory, though, is that this is a club that doesn’t have the strongest history in the patience department – and another complication is that the competition at the top is growing ever fiercer. Time was when Chelsea sat at the top of the tree in England, competing for titles and largely able to sign whoever they wanted. But this evening they face opponents who are much further along in their development, which feels a strange thing to say given that Chelsea won the league two years ago and Liverpool … well, we know when Liverpool last won the league.

Twenty-nine years ago! But that wait doesn’t sting quite so much at the moment. Not after they ran Manchester City so close last season and went to Madrid to collect their sixth European campaign. They’re clearly moving in the right direction under Jurgen Klopp, even though they had a quiet summer in the market, and are bound to challenge for major honours again. Chelsea, on the other hand, are in a transitional period. Lampard needs time, no matter what happens here, in the first ever Super Cup between two English sides.

Kick-off: 8pm BST.