Chelsea Versus Liverpool Fixture Sees Another Draw-Their struggle in 2024

Chelsea and Liverpool’s struggles continue as the latest meeting between the two ends in a goalless draw. A draw that realistically helps neither as the two titans of English football find themselves engaged in a mid-table melee. 

Chelsea’s scoring struggles in front of the goal and Liverpool’s atrocious away record this season made this game an enticing contest, however, when the final whistle was blown the result was an insipid goalless draw, which in a sense does go on to reflect where both these teams presently stand.   

An Insipid Chelsea Meets An Uninspired Liverpool

Both Chelsea and Liverpool came into this fixture on the back of poor results, and even before the ball was kicked it was evident that both the teams came into this match under considerable pressure. 

Chelsea came into this fixture on the back of the sacking of their Head Coach Graham Potter, the Englishman who replaced Thomas Tuchel at Stamford Bridge earlier this season was sacked following  Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, he was relieved from his duties as the Head Coach on Sunday.    

This was Chelsea’s first home game under the newly appointed Interim-Head Coach Bruno Saltor. 

Liverpool on the other hand came into this fixture on the back of 3 consecutive defeats, the Reds who presently find themselves languishing in the 8th place in the Premier League table came into this match hoping to make improvements to their terrible away form. 

watch this: It’s been really difficult for them’: Chelsea interim coach Saltor after Liverpool draw

How They Lined Up: 

This fixture was a must-win game for both these teams as they looked to bounce back from disappointing results. 

Bruno Saltor picked a formation that the Chelsea fans have been used to seeing under Potter. Chelsea lined up in a 3-5-2 formation that is with 3 center-backs and two wing-backs in Reece James and Chilwell, followed by a three-man midfield and a front two of Havertz and Joao Felix. 

Liverpool on the other hand, had lined up in their usual 4-3-3 system, however, Jurgen Klopp had made some big calls as he made certain prominent changes to the 11 which was battered by Manchester City.  

The most notable changes in the Liverpool line up which started at Stamford Bridge included- Firmino coming in for Gakpo, Curtis Jones making a start in the midfield, Salah being benched and Nunez and Jota starting in the wide positions, also Trent Alexander Arnold and Robertson being benched were among the bold decisions taken by Klopp. 

A key absentee for Liverpool was their star defender Virgil Van Dijk.

How The Game Panned Out: 

Chelsea started the match brightly with Liverpool struggling in the initial phase of the game. 

N’Golo Kante’s presence in the midfield gave greater balance to the team as he was key in helping his side create some good early chances.  Early chances for Chelsea came to Kovacic and Havertz whose attempts were blocked off by the Liverpool defense. 

Reece James had found the back of the net for Chelsea in the 24th minute but the goal was disallowed due to an Enzo Fernandez offside in the play leading up to the goal.    

Kai Havertz had another chance in the first half where he failed to shoot on target. 

For Liverpool, it was the last minutes of the first half when they managed to create some good chances as the Reds ended the first half better than they started it.   

It was the same old story for Chelsea in the second half as they started the half on the front foot but failed to find the back of the Liverpool net. Although Kai Havertz did slot the ball past Alisson in the 50th minute, the goal was correctly disallowed on the ground of Handball.

Kovacic also had a good chance in the early stages of the second half but he failed to convert it into a goal. 

Two half-chances came the way of Joao Felix but the Portuguese were unable to slot the ball in the back of the net.

Chelsea had the better chances in the second half but a point away at Stamford Bridge is not a bad result for Liverpool given their away record this season. 

What Lies Ahead: 

The domestic League campaign is pretty much a write-off for both these sides. 

Liverpool is presently  7 points behind the 4th Champions League spot of the table and they have Arsenal coming up at Anfield in their next match, while there are just 10 games remaining till the end of the season, therefore it looks unlikely that they will be able to bridge the gap to the top 4 places. 

While for Chelsea, Champions League glory remains a faint possibility as they face  Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.       

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