Liverpool vs Chelsea: An Overview
Premier League leaders Liverpool hosted Chelsea at Anfield on Wednesday, January 31 as both teams looked to lock themselves in for the second half of the league season.
The hosts entered this contest on the back of a stunning run of form and were unbeaten in their 10 games prior to this match. In those games, they scored an impressive 26 goals en-route to steamrolling their opponents. Jurgen Klopp’s men had their goalscoring boots firmly in place in their 5-2 win over Norwich City in the FA Cup 4th Round and were looking to add to that momentum as they push on. Liverpool (48 pts) knew a win would help extend their lead over Manchester City (46 pts) at the top to five.
The visitors, on the other hand, were in a slightly worse-off form compared to the Reds. They had lost twice in their 10 games before this clash, securing seven wins and playing out one draw. In that time, they managed to climb into the top half of the table and were 10th with 31 points from 22 games before kick-off. They played a goalless draw against Aston Villa in their last game in the FA Cup and were looking to perform better against a much tougher opponent at a daunting venue. The Blues were underdogs heading into this game.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Match Report
Liverpool oversaw an entertaining 4-1 demolition of mid-table Chelsea, with four different goal-scorers getting the job done for Klopp’s men.
The hosts began the game as they meant to continue, pushing forward and attacking in numbers at every opportunity they got. They caught Chelsea by surprise in the first half with their relentless play, barely allowing the Blues a sniff of their goal. Right back Conor Bradley provided an assist for the first goal as he played Diogo Jota through, with the latter applying the finishing touches to make it 1-0.
Bradley then scored a peach of a goal himself from Luis Diaz’s assist, smashing the ball into the bottom-left corner from just outside the box. The Reds could have had three before the break but Darwin Nunez saw his penalty smash the woodwork and bounce out as Chelsea heaved a sigh of relief. However, the Blues had wayward discipline, seeing four yellows in the first half alone.
Mauricio Pochettino made a triple-change at the break to turn Chelsea’s fortunes around but to no avail. Bradley grabbed his second assist of the night with a delightful cross into the box which was met with a thumping header by Dominik Szoboszlai to make it 3-0 after 65 minutes. Substitute Christopher Nkunku showed a glimpse of his brilliance shortly after, maintaining his composure in the box to score a consolation goal to make it 3-1.
Nunez and Diaz then combined to put the game to bed in the 79th minute as the former assisted the latter, who slid in at the far post to score. Both teams then trailed off towards the end of the game as Liverpool secured a thumping win over their rivals to make a statement to the Premier League that they are here to compete.
That said, let’s take a look at the top performers from this game.
ALSO READ: Everton vs Tottenham Preview and Prediction.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Top Performers
Conor Bradley (9.5/10)
Bradley deservedly gets a 9.5 for this game and only misses out on a perfect rating due to the lack of a clean sheet to show for. However, the 20-year-old made it seem like Trent Alexander-Arnold had not gone anywhere.
Bradley passed the ball with 81% accuracy, playing four key passes that included two assists. He also played two crosses and three long balls. Bradley won eight duels, making three tackles in the process. To top it all, he scored one of the most wonderfully-taken goals one will see a right-back score.
Overall, a performance that the player and the club’s fans will cherish and remember for a long time.
Luis Diaz (8.5/10)
Luis Diaz was at his menacing best as he made some great runs and looked confident on the ball. He passed the ball with 79% accuracy, including two key passes and one assist. He also won four duels and attempted three shots, scoring one goal.
This was just his fourth Premier League goal so far, making it eight in total for the season. The Columbian will look to add to his tally in the run-in.
Dorde Petrovic (8/10)
If not for the heroics of the Chelsea custodian, the visitors would probably have lost the match by a cricket score. Liverpool were at their rampant best and attempts a whopping 28 shots throughout the game, with 13 of those on target. They scored four good goals but were also denied very well the other nine times.
Petrovic made four classy saves in the first period and made five more in the second half in one of the better individual performances by a goalkeeper of late. He was the Blues’ best player by far – a tag when given to a goalkeeper only sparks concern.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Match Point
The Reds entered this contest as odds-on favourites and lived up to that expectation by brushing an inexperienced Chelsea team aside.
Besides the Reds’ relentlessness, what cost the Blues was their lack of organization and communication in defence. Both Ben Chilwell and Benoit Badiashile were slightly unaware of their surroundings before conceding their goals, which gave them virtually no chance of preventing the damage.
Liverpool played like they were out to emulate their 7-0 demolition of Manchester United but were only stopped by Petrovic in an otherwise landslide win.