Wednesday evening marks the battle of the Brits as the UEFA Super Cup is contested between two Premier League sides for the first time, with Europa League victors Chelsea taking on Champions League winners Liverpool.
Istanbul will host the first all-English affair, a city that will forever be etched into Liverpudlian folk law with that classic comeback against AC Milan in 2005.
To get to this stage, Chelsea continued their unbeaten European run and cruised to a 4-1 win over Arsenal in the Europa League final as Eden Hazard took centre stage.
The breathtaking Belgian scored two goals and set up another before departing for Real Madrid, as Maurizio Sarri won the first trophy of his managerial career.
In the Champions League final, Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 after suffering defeat the season before to Los Blancos.
Mohamed Salah, who missed that final when he was forced off after a collision with Sergio Ramos, put his mark on proceedings with a penalty after two minutes when Moussa Sissoko was contentiously punished for handball.
The definitive moment came as Spurs failed to decisively clear James Milner's corner with three minutes to go, and Divock Origi capitalised ruthlessly with a rifled left-footed strike past Hugo Lloris.
Match Information
| What day is the match? | Wednesday 14th August 2019 |
| What time is kick-off? | 20:00 BST |
| Where is it held? | BJK Vodafone Park, Istanbul |
| Is it on TV? | BT Sport 2 |
| Are there live updates? | VAVEL live text commentary |
| Who is the referee? | Stephanie Frappart |
Last Time Out
Frank Lampard's competitive managerial debut for the Blues finished in dismal fashion as his side fell heavily to Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Manchester United 4-0.
Marcus Rashford scored twice as the Red Devils recorded their biggest Old Trafford win over Chelsea since 1965.
Anthony Martial also finished from close range and summer signing Daniel James wrapped the game up on his debut with a goal in the 81st minute.
Jürgen Klopp's men on the other hand picked up from where they left off last season as they too put four past their opponents Norwich City.
All four goals were netted in the first half at Anfield with Virgil van Dijk, Origi, Salah, and an own goal from Grant Hanley reminding the Canaries of the ruthless nature of the top division.
Daniel Farke's side did manage to get one back in the second half, courtesy of the 2018/19 Championship's top goalscorer, Teemu Pukki.
Team News
Willian, who missed the United defeat, has been training away from the squad to regain fitness and is set to make a return to Chelsea's squad after missing out on pre-season to play for Brazil in this summer's Copa America.
Lampard will still be without England internationals Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who are recovering from ruptured Achilles injuries.
However, N'Golo Kante, who was substituted on in the 73rd minute versus Solskjær's side, could make his first start of the season as he returns to full fitness following an ongoing hamstring problem.
Klopp suffered a major setback last weekend in the goalkeeping department, after Alisson hobbled off during their opening encounter with Norwich on Friday with a calf complaint.
The injury has sidelined the Brazilian for between four to eight weeks, and therefore Adrian, who stepped up to the plate for the rest of the game versus the Canaries, is expected to make his full debut between the sticks.
Andy Lonergan has also joined the Reds on a short-term deal whilst Klopp's No.1 remains out of contention, and will be among the substitutes in Turkey.
Following his reinstatement into the squad after the African Cup of Nations, Sadio Mané may push for a start dependent on fitness.
History in the making
Stephanie Frappart will be the first woman in history to referee a major European men's game, and it won't be for the first time that the French-born official has changed the face of the game.
In April, she became the first woman to take charge of a French domestic men's Ligue 1 match when she was the referee for Amiens versus Strasbourg - she has since been included in the pool of referees for the 2019/20 Ligue 1 season.
Frappart also refereed the Women's World Cup final between Netherlands and USA, and in this UEFA Super Cup fixture will head a team made up mostly of female officials with Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O'Neill performing as her assistants.
With this assignment, the 35-year-old is hoping that her actions will open up doors to other female officials.
"I hope it serves as an example to female referees," she said. "And to any young girls who may aspire to be a referee.
"I didn't expect to be given the Super Cup assignment - it's a great honour for me, and for female referees as well.
"I'm very happy, and it was really a surprise."
The Chelsea boss
This will be Lampard's first European game in charge of Chelsea, and the 41-year-old is desperate to win the Super Cup, a competition he failed to win as a player.
He told UEFA.com:
"We need to be absolutely ready, it's a cup that the club desperately wants to win.
"I've never won it; a lot of players in there have never won it, so every player needs to be aware of the importance of the game to this club and we have to give everything, because it’s going to be tough.
"Going up against the team with the quality of Liverpool in a final is as tense as finals can be.
"You can lose finals, they're very tough, but what you cannot do is lose it on the premise that we weren’t prepared, or we didn’t have that hunger or desire or everything you need to try and win a game of this magnitude."
The Liverpool boss
Klopp understands that Chelsea will prove to be tough opponents despite their 4-0 defeat to the Red Devils on Sunday.
The 52-year-old confirmed that he will not be reading too much into the final outcome of the game at Old Trafford.
“United was pretty clinical and that’s how football can be, but of course we don’t have lesser respect because they lost 4-0 against Man United.
"It’s the other way around - especially in the first 60 minutes they were just really good.
"[Chelsea] have a clear way of playing, it’s a football-playing side, it’s flexible, they have different formations and stuff like this and I like what I saw.
"It’s a final, both deserve to be there and both, for sure, want to win it desperately and I think that’s a big part of the game plan as well because you have to be lively, but you have to be calm as well.
"All these things, we have to see who can do them better."
UEFA Super Cup stats
The last English team to win the Super Cup was Liverpool in 2005 following their famous Champions League win, also in Istanbul
Wednesday will be the 183rd time these two sides have met and the 11th in UEFA competitions.
Liverpool hold the advantage, winning 78 to Chelsea’s 63, but the Blues do have the edge in Europe with three wins to two and five draws.
Both teams do have successes to their name in this competition, with Liverpool adding to their 2005 glory with wins in 1977 and 2001, while Chelsea’s solitary victory came in 1998.
The Reds and the Blues have also tasted defeat in the UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea losing in 2012 and 2013 finals and Liverpool in 1978 and 1984.
Champions League winners have won 23 of the 43 Uefa Super Cup finals to date, only just edging out the champions of the second-tier competition.