Liverpool have faced Bruno Saltor. Now for Calum McFarlane. There will be an interim manager in the Chelsea dugout on Saturday; not for the first time in this fixture, given that Saltor’s only game in charge, following Graham Potter’s sacking and before Frank Lampard became a slightly more permanent caretaker, was a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in 2023.

If their owners are engaging in the “self-reflection” they promised after Liam Rosenior ’s sacking, they may care to note that as many people have taken charge of Chelsea in their four-year ownership – eight – as have led Liverpool this millennium; and that is including Phil Thompson, who only assumed the reins because Gerard Houllier was ill.

Liam Rosenior was sacked to leave Chelsea searching for another new manager (PA Wire)

Or perhaps, still convinced of their genius, they are simultaneously preparing their next managerial appointment while finding more loopholes to avoid breaching financial regulations now it is apparent they won’t have Champions League…