Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1
It was the pick of the fixtures from the opening weekend of the Premier League, with two heavyweights going toe to toe. Both sides had disappointing seasons last campaign and have a point to prove this time out, with Mauricio Pochettino taking charge of his first game as Chelsea manager. Liverpool seemed to stretch Chelsea’s backline whenever they came forward and often looked like scoring, but struggled to find that final pass to fully take advantage of the positions they were getting into.
Salah struck a curling effort with his weaker right foot, only to see the ball thunder off the crossbar. Finally, Luis Diaz put Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead after 18 minutes when Mohamed Salah found him in the box with a sublime pass, the Columbian slotting passed Robert Sanchez to make it 1-0. It was end to end stuff at Stamford Bridge, more akin to a basketball game, with both sides looking like they were going to score whenever they came forward.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool have been competing in the transfer market for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, you could see why from this game. They lacked that defensive midfielder to prevent the opposition from threading passes through, leaving their defensive lines exposed. Pochettino played three centre backs, with Chilwell and James attacking down the flanks, whether this is sustainable remains to be seen. While it offers them more options when attacking, neither player seems capable of getting back to cover their defensive duties, leaving Chelsea looking very exposed every time their opponents come forward.
Reece James seems a strange choice for captain for The Blues as he has no hunger to ensure his side are defensively solid and never communicates with his teammates about where they should be to ensure that the manager’s tactical vision is put into practice on the pitch. After Liverpool had a Mohamed Salah goal disallowed for a marginal offside, Chelsea seemed to awake from their slumber and put Jurgen Klopp’s defence under some serious pressure. They got their equaliser when Liverpool failed to deal a series of balls lofted into the box with Konate not stepping up with the rest of the defence, and Alexander-Arnold following the runner to ensure he was onside.
Credit: @LFC
It led to new signing Axel Disasi scuffing the ball passed Alisson in the Liverpool goal to make it 1-1 before the interval. While the pundits said it was a brilliant finish, that is a bold claim, as the centre-back seemed to mishit his effort off his shin. Ben Chilwell scored to put Chelsea 2-1 up and celebrated like they had just won the league, which in the modern game can leave you with egg on your face, as VAR ruled it out for offside after another lengthy wait on the pitch for the decision.
Liverpool seemed to struggle with the overload on the flanks with Chelsea’s full-backs supporting the wingers and it proved to be a constant source of chances for Pochettino’s men. James found Jackson in the box just before the break but the striker blazed his effort over the bar when had he focussed on just hitting the target, a goal seemed certain.
The second half continued in the same vein but Mohamed Salah seemed to leave his mojo in the changing room and was largely ineffective, you could be forgiven for wondering whether he was still on the pitch. Virgil van Dijk came closest for Liverpool when his effort from outside the box seemed to be curling into the top corner, narrowly missing the upright.
Liverpool felt they should have had a penalty when the ball struck Nicolas Jackson on the hand but the VAR review disagreed, deciding that there was nothing he could do to prevent it as Luis Diaz flicked the ball on with his head. Fans can often feel aggrieved with VAR, often with good cause, the main issue with the technology is the lack of consistency. On another day, we will no doubt see a penalty given for a very similar scenario as Lewis Dunk found in Brighton’s game this weekend.
The new laws coming in for referees this season have been received in the usual way by fans but the one refreshing thing to see was players being booked themselves for motioning to the official for yellow cards to be shown for challenges on them. Salah showed his displeasure in being substituted in the latter part of the game but the Egyptian winger can have no complaints from his second half showing.
Alisson made a good save from Ben Chilwell when he was slotted in by Enzo Fernandez, followed by another smart save from Nicolas Jackson. Both sides managed to create more chances and will feel that they could have won this game, with Mudryk and Nunez both having opportunities to win the game in the closing moments. Overall, a draw was a fair result and both sides keep their unbeaten starts to the season intact.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
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