Teams from the middle of the table did not show very high quality football.
In the first half, the shortcomings of the teams manifested themselves more indicatively
In the matches between Liverpool and Chelsea there was a certain trend. For the fifth consecutive game ends in a draw. In addition, there were no goals scored in matches between opponents for 375 minutes. During this time, teams scored as high as 10.1 xG.
The match of two clubs, the season of which is developing as crumpled as possible, lived up to expectations. Impossible to say that one of them would have been guaranteed more ball possession and control of the game. The initiative passed from one to the other and vice versa.
This season’s teams are somewhat similar. Both have many game problems and some kind of crisis, both suffer from many injuries and are in decline – the Premier League table will not let you lie. Therefore, a draw result cannot be called illogical. Now the fight for the top 4 and access to the Champions League is even more illusory for the clubs. Despite appearing to have finished the previous season in the top 3, having met in both domestic cup finals, Liverpool moreover reached the Champions League final.
The Reds have practically given up on their trademark, and today the squad was almost in the semifinals: Trent, Matip, Fabinho, Henderson and Darwin remained on the bench. The formation of the game has not changed – it was the same familiar 4-3-3, but without high pressure and with a central block, forcing you to play on the flanks.
The most dangerous situations have been created only thanks to the deep casting, or standard. At Liverpool, the main and only source of threat was Salah, who ran away from Cucurella time and time again. At Chelsea, this was Kai Havertz, who repeatedly used the free space between Gomez and Robertson. The most dangerous moment of the match occurred in the 32nd minute, when, after a cross from a free kick, the ball went past all the Reds’ defenders and found Badiashile’s leg, who seemed to hit for sure, but Alisson’s save time again saved the Merseysiders.
Additionally, the teams had a disappointingly low pass accuracy rate when building offenses. At home he reached 78.8% – the second worst result of the season, while at Chelsea he was slightly above the league average – 81.9%. Often the deterioration of these parameters is caused by high-quality and high pressure from the enemy, but today this is not the case. In the Anfield match, the reason for this was a large number of unforced errors on both sides.
The second half was more eventful, but, like the first, more like a swing
The first 10 minutes after the break proved to be the most impactful for the hosts. The Reds acted more aggressively in pressing, which was beneficial – the players managed to return the ball immediately after the defeat, due to which Chelsea were literally stuck in their own half. The “aristocrats” touched a third of the opponent’s field for the first time only in the 57th minute. During this time, Liverpool created the most threat in front of goal and scored more xGs than in the rest of the match.
Potter was able to respond to such a game of Jurgen Klopp’s wards. If in the first half Chalobah, Silva and Badyashil participated in the equalizer ball, then after the initial 10 minutes of the second half they were joined by Cucurella and Jorginho, going down to the defenders. The Italian was used as a passing defensive midfielder, while Mount and Gallagher played the box-to-box role.
Mudrik’s introduction has given Chelsea an added dynamic to attacking play. For Liverpool, all the substitutions made have been more or less positive. Darwin gave the hosts activity, Trent played against Mudrik much better than Milner. Thanks to the substitutions the game went both ways, the meeting was a good draw, and both teams had enough half moments, which often could not be scored, and if they managed to create something, then the danger from these shots was minimal.
On the positive side of Chelsea’s play, one can see the actions of Ziyech and Mudrik, who have famously exploited the width created on the flanks and sharpened the game considerably. And if we compare the game of the teams, the guest players behaved more organized. Liverpool, in turn, did not show the healthiest game. There was no idea in the construction of the attacks and confusion arose more than once in defense.
Club newcomers showed themselves in completely different ways.
Liverpool’s only newcomer this transfer window, Cody Gakpo, has already played in his fourth meeting for the club. The last match against Chelsea, like all the others, was not filled with many useful actions. Today he only scored a few shots, among which there is hardly one dangerous enough to score a goal. The start of his career at the club clearly did not work out.
Central defender Benoit Badiashile played for the second match for the London club. Not only have Chelsea kept clean sheets since making their debut, they also prevented Crystal Palace and Liverpool from creating scoring chances.
Mudrik’s appearance on the pitch deserved close attention. Chelsea’s game was refreshed immediately after moving into the left flank of the attack. He created a threat in every possible way at the Liverpool goal: both through dribbling and clever passing. At first, Milner acted against him and in the 15 minutes they faced each other, Mudrik had 3 chances near the Reds’ goal. Klopp had to release Trent instead of Milner to somehow oppose Mudrik.
The abundance of chances created by the Ukrainian never turned into productive action. This is how you can describe everything that happened in the match: the players tried to aggravate, take control of the game, interact with partners, but each time there was not enough decisive action that would have contributed to the goal being scored.
