Having knocked them out of the Carabao Cup earlier in the week and inflicted their first defeat of the season, Chelsea welcomed Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Saturday, September 29, 2018, to try and repeat the feat in the Premier League as England’s top flight played its seventh round of the season. On the other hand, Liverpool were set to try and revenge themselves, and so increase the gap that separates the two teams in the table.
Team News
Maurizzio Sarri had a couple of concerns regarding his team selection. Andreas Christensen had a stomach-bug problem, while Antonio Rudiger, Pedro Rodriguez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek had to face late fitness tests ahead of Liverpool’s visit.
Both teams were arranged in a balanced 4-3-3 shape.The former Napoli manager put Kepa Arrizabalaga on goal again. Cezar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso flanked David Luiz and Rudiger at the back. N’Golo Kante took up his usual spot alongside Jorginho and Mateo Kovačić. Eden Hazard and Willian flanked Olivier Giroud in attack.
To Jurgen Klopp’s delight, Virgil van Dijk recovered from a rib problem in time for the clash and was ready to take his place in the team. Georginio Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold also had issues during the week but they returned to contention. Dejan Lovren, who missed the start of the season through a pelvis issue, played the full 90 minutes on Wednesday and was ready again.
Alisson Becker returned to goal, just like the quartet of Joe Gomez, van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson to the back line. The trio of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Wijnaldum made up the midfield. Sadio Mane played on the left and Mohamed Salah on the right side of Roberto Firmino in attack.
The First Half – Chelsea Edge Ahead
The game started, developed and ended as a highly dynamic one. Both teams showed attacking intent from the start, neither dropped back to settle for defending for very long. The ball was moving from one end of the pitch very quickly for large portions of the contest, and both sides created a number of chances.
Liverpool had theirs through their front three, but they lacked a bit of sharpness throughout the team. There were a lot of misplaced passes from the Reds, and their first touch was uncharacteristically poor; as was their finishing. Salah and Mane in particular sent several shots from reasonably good positions far off target.
Meanwhile, Chelsea worked well. They made use of the strength of Giroud who constantly did battle against Gomez and van Dijk, Hazard drifted across the front line with a lot of freedom, while Willian often looked to run in behind and make use of a pass from deep. But like Liverpool, they couldn’t find the target for a quarter of the game. And then, in the 25th minute, Hazard brilliantly laid the ball off for Kovačić and darted in behind Alexander-Arnold. The Croatian midfielder released him with a great pass. Gomez tried to get across in time, but Hazard’s pace was too much for the young centre-back and his finish was fantastic, at a full run, low into the far corner, past Alisson and into the net.
They could have added a second quickly afterwards but Gomez made amends by clearing a good cross aimed by Jorginho towards Giroud.
Liverpool also had their chances to set the score level at this point. The most notable one was when Firmino produced a clever pass for Salah and the Egyptian ran past Alonso and around Kepa, before seeing his shot cleared of the very line by Rudiger.
The Second Half – Sturridge to the Rescue
The game went on after the break much as it had been going on before. It was flowing very lively, and both teams attacked with great desire. Willian produced a fantastic, Ronaldinho-style piece of dribbling to bamboozle Robertson, but his pull-back for the incoming Giroud was intercepted and cleared. The Brazilian had another fantastic chance when Kante’s interception and sublime pass sent him through, but Gomez and van Dijk stopped him with a joint effort. In between those two moments, Mane displayed some trickery of his own and fought his way through a forest of blue shirts inside the box, before firing low into the near corner and prompting a sublime save from Kepa.
But the best chance of the game fell to the goalscorer. Referee Andre Marriner had given a foul by Salah on Luiz in Chelsea’s half, and Kante cunningly took it while the Liverpool players were still protesting it. The Frenchman sent Hazard through with an accurate pass, and Hazard was completely free, going one-on-one with Alisson. However, the Brazilian international goalkeeper came out, read Hazard’s intention and saved his shot.
With 20 minutes to go, the managers started making changes. Alvaro Morata came on for Giroud for Chelsea, while for Liverpool Xherdan Shaqiri replaced Salah.
The Swiss international had a glorious chance for an equalizer straight away. Azpilicueta slipped, allowing Robertson to get clear of him on the left flank and aim a low cross into the box. Shaqiri was the fastest man to it, but his aim was poor.
Changes kept coming. Victor Moses in for Willian, Naby Keita replaced Henderson, and Ross Barkley replaced Kovačić.
But it would be the last substitution of the game, Daniel Sturridge in for Milner with four minutes to go, that made the biggest difference of all. In the 89th minute, the former Chelsea striker received the ball some 25 yards out and took matters into his own hands. He calmly set himself up and hit a curled shot into the far top corner, out of the reach of Kepa at full flight and into the net, right in front of the astonished supporters of the home team.
The Afterthought
Regardless of the timing and the manner of Liverpool’s equalizer, a draw was a fair result at Stamford Bridge. It was a game of high intensity, and though Chelsea seemed somewhat sharper on the ball they weren’t actually better than their opponents. The outcome means that Liverpool failed to win a Premier League game for the first time this season and they’ve now conceded the top spot in the table to title-holders Manchester City. As coincidence would have it, it’s Pep Guardiola’s team that visit Anfield next week.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have played their second draw after failing to score away to West Ham last week. They sit in third place, two points behind Liverpool and City. There’s a long way to go yet, but it seems at this point that those three are best equipped when in comes to fighting for the Premier League title.
Match Report
CHELSEA: Kepa 8, Luiz 8, Rudiger 7, Azpilicueta 6.5, Alonso 7, Jorginho 6.5, Kante 7.5, Kovačić 8 (80′ Barkley N/A), Willian 7.5 (73′ Moses 6.5), Hazard 9, Giroud 7 (65′ Morata 7).
LIVERPOOL: Alisson 8, van Dijk 8, Gomez 7.5, Alexander-Arnold 6.5, Robertson 7, Henderson 6.5 (78′ Keita 7), Wijnaldum 7, Milner 7 (86′ Sturridge 10), Mane 7.5, Salah 7 (66′ Shaqiri 6), Firmino 7.5.
GOALS: Hazard 25′, Sturridge 89′.
YELLOW CARDS: Mane 39′, Milner 77′.
VENUE: Stamford Bridge.
REFEREE: Andre Marriner.
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