Liverpool and Chelsea played out a derby with debuts, returns and some good news, but the goalless draw left no fans happy
With both teams experiencing difficult times this season, Liverpool and Chelsea faced each other at Anfield looking to move closer to the top four in the Premier League table.
For his 1000th career game, manager Jurgen Klopp made three changes from the FA Cup win against Wolverhampton. Alisson naturally returned in goal. Robertson and Salah also returned, while Bajcetic was kept in midfield in his first Premier League start.
At the other end, Graham Potter executed just one change after the win against Crystal Palace last weekend. Cucurella came on at left-back, allowing more advanced positioning for Hall. Chukwuemeka started on the bench, while Mudryk came on only in the second half.
Chelsea little better than Liverpool in an uninspiring first half
Chelsea threw themselves forward from the start and soon sought the goal with Kai Havertz hitting Alisson’s clearance firmly past Thiago Silva at the first opportunity. However, VAR disallowed the goal for offside.
After an intense start to the match, both teams made the first half a great session of misplaced passes and technical faults in the final third. Even so, the Blues were superior to the Reds with more chances and better control of possession.
The best chance of the first half came in the 32nd minute after Ziyech crossed on the edge of the six-yard box and no Liverpool marker found the ball, leaving it for Alisson to prevent Badiashile’s headed goal.
Just before the break, Liverpool occupied more of the attacking field but with only one shot on target, prioritising the right side in their build-up. The Reds’ attempts at acceleration once again failed to produce results.
Mudryk makes immediate impact after leaving bench
In the opening ten minutes of the second half, Liverpool finished four times and frightened the Blues at Anfield with good build-ups, although goalkeeper Kepa did not have to execute any saves.
However, the situation of the match changed again when manager Graham Potter promoted the debut of Mykhaylo Mudryk. In his first opportunity on the right, he left four Liverpool players behind and made space for the shot, only to miss the direction of the finish.
Jurgen Klopp tried to rebalance the match again and promoted the entrance of Darwin Nunez, entering on the left side, with Gakpo centralized in the attack. After 19 minutes without finishing, Liverpool got back to winning ways, with the Uruguayan spinning and beating goalkeeper Kepa.
Liverpool and Chelsea still far from top four in Premier League
In the final stretch, Aubameyang, Chukwuemeka and Azpilicueta came on for Chelsea. On the other side, Jones, Fabinho and Henderson were deployed at Liverpool.
Chelsea tried to regain more control of possession by looking for spaces and preventing Liverpool’s exits, who gambled on counter-attacks at speed and regained territory in a final with many open spaces.
However, even with the delivery of both teams and improved quality in the second half, Liverpool and Chelsea drew level and left Anfield disappointed.