Chelsea vs Liverpool: David Luiz to face Reds in first match since leaving Stamford Bridge, confirms Antonio Conte

Luiz will make his first appearance for Chelsea since he returned from a two-year spell with PSG

David Luiz will make his Chelsea return against Liverpool on Friday (Getty)

Antonio Conte has confirmed that deadline day signing David Luiz will play in Friday night’s Premier League encounter against Liverpool, with the defender poised to make his first appearance for Chelsea since leaving in 2014.

The crunch fixture sees two of Europe’s most passionate managers face-off at Stamford Bridge as Conte goes up against German Jürgen Klopp, with the Blues currenty unbeaten and three points ahead of Liverpool.

Conte attempted to bring in defensive reinforcements during the summer, but when he failed in moves for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and Alessio Romagnoli of AC Milan, he made a dramatic deadline day bid for former Chelsea defender Luiz, and a deal was agreed with Paris Saint-Germain for the Brazil international to return to London.

Speaking in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Conte confirmed that 29-year-old Luiz will feature in the visit of Liverpool, having been left as an unused substitute for last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Swansea.

"David Luiz will play for the first time with us and we are confident about this," said Conte, who also confirmed that captain John Terry will return from the ankle injury he suffered in Swansea after 10 days’ recovery.

"We expect him to play very well, with great attention. We know David is a good player and we are working to put him in the best condition to give us the best of him.

"When new players arrive they need time to adapt to a new concept of football. Tomorrow we need to play David Luiz.

"He has worked a lot on defensive situations. I'm confident for him. He's a good player and during the training sessions I have been seeing good things."

Conte also dismissed the possibility of midfielder Cesc Fabregas being in his last season at Chelsea ahead aof a move away from the club either in January or the summer, despite the Spaniard yet to start under Conte’s reign.


 Luiz remain a crowd favourite with Chelsea supporters 
 (Getty)

The former Arsenal and Barcelona star has made two substitute appearances so far this season, but Conte stressed that he remains a key player in the squad and has shown enough in training to suggest he could receive his first start in the coming weeks.

"Cesc is in my plans and in Chelsea's plans," he said.

"We all know Cesc is a fantastic player. I see him in every training session with great seriousness and if he continues in this way it will be very difficult choice for me.

"I want this from my players, to put doubts in my mind. Cesc is a great player, we all know he's a very technical player, but also I'm starting to know him like a man."


 Fabregas has had to make do with a place among the substitutes so far (Getty)
 (Getty Images)

Conte also predicted a difficult encounter against Liverpool, with the Italian replicating the praise that Klopp showed for him during his press conference on Wednesday.

"I'm expecting a very tough match against a strong team," added Conte.

"I think Liverpool is a really good team, they play with identity, they can bring many players on in an offensive situation and we must pay great attention tomorrow."