That’s all from me. Thanks for reading and for your emails. Congratulations to Chelsea for the victory. Until next time!
Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool: our match report
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s manager, speaks to the cameras:
This game was very important. Liverpool forced us to defend deep, something that we don’t like to do. But they are so good. We planned the game, trying to be aggressive. But they forced us into a different plan and we adapted quite well.
I am very impressed with my players. It is not easy to play man-to-man. If we finish top five, everyone is thinking they are doing well, but I am impressed with them [regardless].
For sure, Chelsea has to fight for Champions League. Hopefully in the future it can be for something more important.
Here the xG, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Chelsea: 2.91, despite having just 35% possession.
Liverpool: 1.17.
That seems to fit the scoreline.
Chelsea’s Cole Palmer speaks to the cameras:
Liverpool are champions for a reason but I think we had desire and good fight and we edged them. Shit happens, obviously I went three months without scoring, but it just gave me more motivation to keep working. Social media is just full of idiots but I just want to help my team.
You feel like you’re letting your team down when you miss chances. I’ve had doubters all my life, it doesn’t bother me. I was trying things today, first-time passes. I felt normal today.
In other news, London City Lionesses have been promoted to the Women’s Super League after a dramatic final day in the Women’s Championship.
A reminder of today’s other Premier League results. Only Newcastle’s draw at Brighton has any implications for Champions League qualification.
An update from Germany: Bayer Leverkusen could only draw at Freiburg, so Bayern Munich have been crowned champions of the Bundesliga! That is Harry Kane’s first ever major trophy.
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Chelsea were excellent today. To score after just three minutes, with such a beautiful goal, gave them a huge base to build from. Palmer, Lavia, Cucurella and Madueke were the standout players.
Not sure how deeply we need to look into that Liverpool defeat. Their mentality was poor today, but that is not unexpected after the highs of last week. Slot rung the changes, and just as he did against Plymouth in the FA Cup in February, Liverpool did not gel.
This is what that result does to the league table. Chelsea are now three points clear of Forest and Villa and will watch on with interest as Forest take on Palace on Monday night.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 46 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Man City | 35 | 24 | 64 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 6 | Nottm Forest | 34 | 12 | 60 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 35 | 6 | 60 |
| 8 | AFC Bournemouth | 35 | 13 | 53 |
| 9 | Brentford | 35 | 9 | 52 |
| 10 | Brighton | 35 | 1 | 52 |
| 11 | Fulham | 35 | 3 | 51 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 34 | -4 | 45 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 35 | -11 | 41 |
| 14 | Everton | 35 | -7 | 39 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 35 | -9 | 39 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 6 | 38 |
| 17 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 37 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 35 | -41 | 22 |
| 19 | Leicester | 35 | -47 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 35 | -57 | 11 |
Full-time: Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool
The champions are beaten!
GOAL! Chelsea 3-1 Liverpool (Palmer pen 90+7)
Palmer caps a wonderful display by passing the ball to Alisson’s right. Liverpool’s goalkeeper guesses right but can’t reach the penalty, right in the side netting. That’s the game! Maresca roars in delight on the sideline. A huge three points for Chelsea.
Updated
Penalty to Chelsea!
90+5 min: Sancho runs towards the corner flag to try to run the clock down. Szoboszlai wins the ball back but a sloppy pass allows Caicedo to nip in ahead of Quansah, and the Liverpool defender trips the Ecuadorian in the box. Penalty!
90+4 min: Salah is so far short of his normal exceptional standards today. The man can’t trap a beanbag today.
90+2 min: Chelsea are doing a decent job of running down the clock. Mac Allister careers into Gusto in frustration as Liverpool desperately try to get the ball back. A Chelsea free-kick will waste a few more seconds.
90 min: Corner to Chelsea, they take their time, then take it short and immediately lose possession of the ball.
Five minutes added on for Liverpool to get an equaliser.
89 min: Chelsea make another change: goalscorer Fernandez off for Reece James.
87 min: Chelsea so easily could be 3-0 up but now they face an anxious last few minutes to secure the three points, which are so precious in the race for Champions League qualification.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool (Van Dijk 85)
How bizarre! Chelsea fail to mark Van Dijk from a corner, and the Dutchman has a completely free run to meet the cross, heading powerfully past Sanchez. Game on? Game on!
Updated
83 min: Federico Chiesa comes on for his fifth appearance of the season, which means that he now qualifies for a Premier League medal. The Italian replaces Tsimikas. Liverpool are going for it.
Chelsea also made a change: Lavia off, Gusto on. Caicedo will go into midfield, Gusto to right back.
81 min: Palmer hits the post! The England midfielder ghosts past Bradley to the byline. Everything, including Palmer’s eyes, indicate he is going to pull the ball back to a teammate but Palmer instead shoots from the tightest of angles. Alisson is completely out of position but the ball rebounds out off the far post and to safety.
Updated
79 min: After 15 minutes defending their own box, Chelsea spring forward and so nearly make it 3-0. Madueke has a shot blocked but Fernandez collects the loose ball, feeds Sancho on the left and the Chelsea substitute has a free shot at goal, albeit from an acute angle, saved by Alisson!
78 min: John Kerry is here. He’s sitting just behind the Chelsea dugout in the posh seats. The former US presidential candidate and secretary of state, not the former England captain, although it’s just about possible he’s here as the result of some comic mixup. I don’t know what to do with this information. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do with this information. But there it is.
Updated
77 min: It’s just not happening for Liverpool. Nunez has been sloppy since coming on and now Salah misses what he would consider to be an easy header! Tsimikas crossed from the left and Salah met it at the far post, but could only guide his effort wide.
73 min: Chelsea have fallen into a mid/low block, and Liverpool are enjoying plenty of possession, and now have Szoboszlai and Mac Allister on the ball.
I should say that there were some other chants from Chelsea fans: ‘always the victim’. Grim.
71 min: Chelsea respond with a change of their own: Jadon Sancho replaces Nicolas Jackson. That means Madueke will go to the right and Neto will play as a central striker.
69 min: Some substitutions to tell you about: Liverpool take Elliott and Endo off for Mac Allister and Szoboszlai.
67 min: Liverpool lurch forward again. The visitors have found some momentum in the last five minutes, and Salah shows his first real moment of quality, clipping a deep cross to the back post. Nunez climbs unopposed, it is a free header, but the Uruguayan nods his header well wide. Replays show the Liverpool striker was offside but that was an awful effort regardless.
65 min: Which is taken by Elliott and blasted straight into the Chelsea wall.
64 min: Bradley goes through the gears to burst beyond Cururella, showing the energy that Alexander-Arnold failed to show in his 58 minutes on the pitch, before passing nicely inside. Chalobah rugby tackles Salah on the edge of Chelsea’s box and Liverpool have a dangerous free-kick.
63 min: Chelsea supporters have started singing about Steve Gerrard and Demba Ba, I am obliged to report.
61 min: Liverpool finally find some composure on the ball. Bradley makes a clever run down the right, but Chalobah reads the cross and makes a vital interception behind. From the resulting corner, Van Dijk has a free header (!) but the Dutchman can only nod it over the bar. It was a fair way out, in fairness, around the penalty spot.
59 min: Slot makes a double change, maybe 14 minutes too late. Nunez on for Jota, Bradley on for Alexander-Arnold.
58 min: Liverpool look completely at sea. Jones hasn’t had a kick in midfield, Salah anonymous on the right wing. Quansah, probably frustrated from the own goal, flies into a tackle with Fernandez, and is booked. He won the ball, in fairness, but it was a wild challenge.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool (Quansah og, 56)
Chelsea double their lead with a wonderfully ugly goal! Palmer coasts past Tsimikas to reach the byline, slides the ball across the six-yard box. Endo makes a heroic tackle to prevent Madueke from tapping in at the back post, but the ball rebounds to Van Dijk on the goalline and the Liverpool defender boots a clearance into Quansah’s thigh, with the ball rebounding straight into the net! A comedy of errors!
Updated
54 min: Chalobah is the next into the book, both for tripping Jones and for preventing Liverpool from taking a quick free-kick.
52 min: Groands from the Chelsea fans as Jackson is caught offside from a Madueke pass. It’s not clear if they are annoyed at the late timing of the latter’s pass, or Jackson’s errant run. Maybe both.
50 min: Van Dijk is given a yellow card for a late tackle on Lavia, with the Chelsea player receiving some stud marks on his white boots. VAR did double check to see if the booking should be upgraded to a red, but Van Dijk’s foot was deemed to be sufficiently low. Yellow is correct, in my book.
47 min: Madueke, operating on Chelsea’s left wing today, has done his best work when he has come inside Alexander-Arnold, rather than go outside on his favoured left. The Chelsea winger dances past two tackles and squares the ball to Jackson, who shoots weakly at Alisson.
Peeeeeeeep!
We’re back underway at Stamford Bridge. Both sides are unchanged, which is a little surprising (for Liverpool).
Updated
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool
A big goal for the Blues, who will go level on points with Newcastle in fourth place, if things stay like this. Here’s the live table.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 35 | 47 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Man City | 35 | 24 | 64 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 35 | 20 | 63 |
Updated
45 min: One minute added on for stoppage time. This half has flown by.
CHELSEA GOAL DISALLOWED!
43 min: All alone in the Liverpool penalty area, Jackson receives the ball with his back to goal, lays off nicely to Madueke and the England international goes around Alisson and taps the ball into an empty net! But replays confirm that Jackson was offside from the initial pass, the Chelsea striker should really have done more to stay onside, he was looking right down the line.
41 min: Palmer finds a nice pocket of space on the right side of Chelsea’s midfield and releases Neto and the winger slaloms right and left before cutting inside Tsimikas and shooting low into the near side netting. Had that been inside the post, I don’t think Alisson was getting there!
37 min: Neto is very moody, isn’t he. Always seems to have a face on.
Updated
35 min: I would not be surprised if Liverpool made a number of changes at half-time. Elliott has been poor, Jota has been almost anonymous.
33 min: In possession, Caicedo is often moving from right-back into midfield to create an extra man. What that means that if Liverpool win quick turnover ball, there is a big hole on their left and Chelsea’s right for Gakpo to exploit.
31 min: Chelsea hit the bar! Madueke shimmies inside Alexander-Arnold and his deflected cross eventually finds Caicedo on the right. The Ecuadorian wriggles away from Tsimikas and floats in a hopeful cross to the back post. The ball loops over Alisson and hits the top of the bar – Liverpool are fortunate it bounces behind rather than back into play, where Madueke and Jackson were waiting for a rebound.
29 min: Cucurella is having an excellent game at left-back. Somewhere in his pocket, Salah is wriggling around.
27 min: Liverpool are starting to suffocate Chelsea with their possession. Wave after wave of attack comes forward with the Reds probing this way and that. Chelsea stay strong in their defensive shape, for now. The Blues still offer a threat on the counter-attack but momentum is certainly with Liverpool.
25 min: Caicedo needlessly fouls Gakpo and Liverpool have a chance to advance Van Dijk and Quansah for a free-kick into the box. Tsimikas crosses to the back post, but Chelsea defend it well.
23 min: Salah is quietly having a bit of a stinker on the right wing. He is struggling to control easy passes and twice Cururella has nipped in to win possession. There is a wry smile on Salah’s face as the camera pans to him, as if to say: “I’m not quite sure what is going on!” He’ll surely get it together soon.
20 min: Jackson’s pace in behind is causing all sorts of problems to Liverpool’s high line. Jackson again sprints onto a high lofted ball forward and just misses the bounce of the ball. A touch there would have left Quansah and Alisson completely stranded.
Updated
17 min: Just as he did for the goal, Neto gets another chance to run at Tsimikas, but this time the Liverpool defender reads the body feint and edges out the Portuguese winger, who appeals in vain for a penalty. Good defending.
15 min: We’re seeing replays of Chelsea’s goal, and Lavia really showed his quality there at the base of Maresca’s midfield to feed Palmer, who also showed great movement to lose his marker (Jones).
13 min: “It’s surprising how many positions do need strengthening to challenge again next season, especially in Europe and against a new look City,” emails Jeff Goines. “I seem to be the only one who thinks the forwards need a major overhaul, the majority of them are overrated by Liverpool fans and I’d cash in on Diaz in a second for good money. Obviously Nunez has to go if they can recoup a fair amount. Jota I can’t see anyone clambering for so I’d keep, as well as Chiesa … no idea what’s gone on there but I think we’d be silly not to give the player that’s in there somewhere a second go. Bring in someone who can play down the middle, no idea who but it’s definitely not Isak because we won’t pay that. Left back, right back, CB and DM. Other thank that looking good!”
11 min: Jackson goes clean through and toe-pokes the ball past Alisson just outside Liverpool’s box before the Chelsea striker is cleaned out. It is surely a red card for the Liverpool goalkeeper … Jackson would have tapped the ball into an empty net … but the flag goes up for offside! Replays show the Senegalese just strayed off from the initial through ball.
Updated
9 min: Gakpo gets clear of Caicedo on Liverpool’s left and curls an effort at goal, saved by Sanchez, when he might have looked to teammates in the middle.
7 min: Liverpool simply haven’t settled. Elliott and Endo have failed to give Slot his customary control in the middle of the pitch. Sometimes a player like Mac Allister does not always stand out in the same way that Salah does, but the Argentinian – on the bench today – very rarely loses the ball and is so tactically astute.
5 min: Chelsea are motoring! Madueke picks the ball up in space and has Cucurella to his left. He ignores the decoy run, and Jackson and Fernandez to his right and takes a shot on the edge of Liverpool’s box, dragging his effort wide. A waste of an excellent opening. Maresca will have wanted more from that situation.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Fernandez 3)
A beautiful goal! Lavia starts the move, slipping a gorgeous pass to Palmer in midfield. The ball goes wide to Neto and the Portuguese drives into the box, delivering a low cross to Fernandez. The World Cup winner does well to take a touch – the cross was a touch in front of him and a first-time finish would have been a stretch – and Fernandez finishes with a sidefoot finish from 10 yards out. Great goal!
Updated
2 min: Liverpool look very sharp from the off, with Salah and Elliott exchanging a neat one-two. The Egyptian got to the byline and pulled a low cross across goal, but Sanchez got down well to gather nicely.
Peeeeeeeeeeeep!
We’re off at Stamford Bridge!
The teams are out. Chelsea arrive on the pitch first and line up in a guard of honour for the new champions. Liverpool’s side walk out and through the avenue of Chelsea players to boos from the Stamford Bridge crowd. Hmmmm.
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“There’s no point in keeping players that Slot won’t play, so Chiesa and Nunez go, maybe others”, emails Nigel Guest. “Robertson is fading, so we need another left back. Salah desperately needs a good backup. He can’t keep playing every minute. Otherwise, it depends who else leaves.”
Yep, certainly a bonafide right winger is needed, as well as a right back if/when Trent Alexander-Arnold departs. I would personally keep Robertson for his experience and buy a top younger left-back for him to mentor, such as Bournemouth’s Kerkez or Fulham’s Antonee Robinson. Maybe sell Tsimikas, although the Greek is dependable. Another excellent centre-back, to challenge Konate and Van Dijk would be prudent, if they can afford that. The goalkeeper situation is interesting, given Giorgi Mamardashvili is going to join this summer from Valencia.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s manager, speaks to the cameras:
We have to try to manage the emotions. We have regained our momentum by winning some games. We are playing against winner players with winner mentality, so I expect a tough game.
Liverpool fans, your side have just cantered to the league title. In what position/positions would you like to see the club invest in over the summer? And who would you get rid of?
Answers to the usual place: michael.butler@theguardian.com.
Jacob Steinberg’s preview to our late kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
Here’s an extract:
The response to Karius’s mishaps was more ruthlessness. A goalkeeper was needed and Liverpool went for it in the next transfer window, paying £66.8m to sign Alisson from Roma. They were not hanging around. Alisson was 25 and elite. Remember his save in Liverpool’s win over Napoli in December 2018? They would not have won the Champions League without that intervention. Liverpool were rewarded for their seriousness; the mentality monsters built on becoming European champions by charging to their first league title in 30 years.
Chelsea, who have the second-youngest squad across Europe’s top five leagues and are monitoring the 19-year-old Ajax left-back Jorrel Hato, should take note. They will give Liverpool a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon and face a team with stability at their core. Van Dijk, now 33, is still the defensive rock and has signed on for two more years. Alisson, at 32, remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It is a simple equation: buying the best usually makes you the best.
Full-time at the Amex: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle. A decent result for Chelsea, that, with Newcastle dropping points. Diego Gómez missed a sitter to win it for Brighton in the 95th minute.
Huge news in the race for the Champions League: Newcastle have found a late equaliser at Brighton, with Alexander Isak converting a penalty kick. That game, now 1-1, is now into stoppage time and you can follow the closing moments here.
That’s what that goal does to the live table. A draw at the Amex and a win for Chelsea here will mean the Blues draw level on points with Newcastle, with three games to play.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 34 | 48 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Man City | 35 | 24 | 64 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 21 | 63 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 34 | 19 | 60 |
A reminder that there were three Champions League semi-finals in the 2000s played out between these two sides (and one quarter-final in 2008-09).
Wesley Fofana aside, Chelsea are more or less at full strength, with Lavia’s re-emergence into the XI moving Caicedo to right back. A penny for the thoughts of Reece James on Chelsea’s bench.
Liverpool do make some changes: Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Elliott all start, but this is far from a makeshift side. And Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister all lurk on Liverpool’s bench.
Updated
The teams!
Chelsea: Sanchez, Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Lavia, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Madueke, Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Dewsbury-Hall, James, Gusto, George, Acheampong.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Endo, Jones, Salah, Elliott, Gakpo, Jota.
Subs: Kelleher, Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Robertson, Bradley.
Preamble
What a pleasure it is to report on a Premier League game where there is actually something at stake. Liverpool may have sewn up the league title last weekend, but things remain very much in the balance for Chelsea, who are wildly chasing Champions League qualification alongside Manchester City, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
Three teams currently lie on 60 points, with fifth-placed Chelsea currently holding the final Champions League spot on goal difference. It’s squeaky-bum time for the Blues, who will be desperate to return to Europe’s elite competition after a couple of years in the wilderness of Conference League, etc.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 34 | 48 | 82 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 35 | 33 | 67 |
| 3 | Man City | 35 | 24 | 64 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 35 | 20 | 62 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 34 | 19 | 60 |
| 6 | Nottm Forest | 34 | 12 | 60 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 35 | 6 | 60 |
| 8 | Brighton | 35 | 2 | 54 |
| 9 | AFC Bournemouth | 35 | 13 | 53 |
| 10 | Brentford | 35 | 9 | 52 |
| 11 | Fulham | 35 | 3 | 51 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 34 | -4 | 45 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 35 | -11 | 41 |
| 14 | Everton | 35 | -7 | 39 |
| 15 | Man Utd | 35 | -9 | 39 |
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 35 | 6 | 38 |
| 17 | West Ham | 35 | -19 | 37 |
| 18 | Ipswich | 35 | -41 | 22 |
| 19 | Leicester | 35 | -47 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 35 | -57 | 11 |
There might have been sore heads at the start of this week but don’t expect Liverpool to be off the pace. Slot’s side have nothing tangible left to play for but many players will be nervously looking over their shoulders before the summer transfer window opens, hoping to retain their place for next season. The fringe players will be under the greatest pressure to make their mark, and Slot may field a fair few of them today.
The Reds did not spend heavily last year at all, and the manager has already mentioned he is eyeing fresh recruits.
It’s certainly an intriguing match between two giants of the English game, although not for the normal reasons.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST.
