Our chief football correspondent was at Anfield
You can read Daniel Taylor’s on-the-whistle report here and stay tuned for more post-match reaction later.
How things stand: This draw leaves Chelsea on 56 points, nine clear of Spurs and Arsenal, with Liverpool a further point back in fourth place. Manchester City are in fifth with tomorrow night’s game against West Ham at the London Stadium. Manchester United are behind them and face Hull tomorrow.
Full-time at Anfield: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over - Liverpool have ended their poor run at home by coming from behind to draw with league leaders Chelsea. David Luiz opened the scoring with a cheeky free-kick in the first half, but Gigi Wijnaldum cancelled out Chelsea’s lead with a header just before the hour mark. While Diego Costa missed from the spot, it’s been a good night for Chelsea, with Arsenal having lost at home to Watford, while Spurs could only draw with Sunderland. You can get all tonight’s results by clicking on this link.
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90+2 min: We’re in the second of three minutes of added time. Chelsea are dominating, but Liverpool have just embarked on a counter-attack. N’Golo Kante soon puts a stop to that. Chelsea substitution: Costa off, Batshuayi on.
90+1 min: Firmino heads straight at Thibaut Courtinho from six or seven yards after getting on the end of a fine cross from Sadio Mane. He should have scored!
89 min: Chelsea win a free-kick wide on the right. Fabregas curls the ball into the penalty area, It’s headed towards the far touchline, where N’Golo Kante picks it up and plays it inside towards Pedro. His low first-time shot from the edge of the area fizzes wide.
88 min: Fabregas picks out Pedro on the edge of the penalty area with another fine pass. Jordan Henderson dives in to dispossess the Spaniard as he was shaping to pull the trigger. Good defending.
87 min: Still no word from BT Sport refereeing expert Howard Webb on that controversial penalty awarded to Chelsea. He must have gone home early.
86 min: From wide on the right, Fabregas plays the ball towards Diego Costa on the fringe of the Liverpool penalty area. The centre-forward’s touch is wonderful and he shows great strength to reverse into the box and hold the ball up as he waits for reinforcements. Eventually, Liverpool clear and their terror at the prospect of conceding another penalty subsides.
84 min: Liverpool attack, the ball punted long towards Emre Can. Chelsea clear.
84 min: Chelsea substitution: Cesc Fabregas on for Willian.
81 min: Just before that penalty, Sadio Mane was brought on by Liverpool. He replaced Philippe Coutinho. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Arsenal have lost against Watford, while Spurs have been held by the mighty Sunderland.
78 min: Mark Clattenburg books Willian for some indiscretion or other. So, that penalty - sure, there was contact between Matip and Costa, but that doesn’t mean it’s a penalty and I’m not so sure it was a foul by the Liverpool defender. Costa was bearing down on goal and theatrically threw himself to the ground when Matip tried to stop him. Helpfully, BT Sport have former referee Howard Webb on hand to clear up this sort of confusion but haven’t actually bothered to ask him what he thinks.
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MIGNOLET SAVES FROM COSTA!
76 min: Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saves from Diego Costa, to atone for the first half error that cost his team a goal.
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PENALTY FOR CHELSEA!!!
76 min: Chelsea win a penalty at the Kop end and I have to say it looked very soft to me. Diego Costa throws himself to the ground under a very soft challenge by Joel Matip.
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74 min: Liverpool continue to apply pressure,. with Nathaniel Clyne whipping a cross in to the far post. James Milner stretches to try to get the ball across the face of goal, but it’s too far in front of him.
73 min: Chelsea substitution: Pedro on, Eden Hazard off.
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70 min: Henderson whips in another cross from the right, bamboozling Moses and Azpilicueta and trying to pick out Emre Can. There’s too much fizz on the ball for the player, but at least Liverpool seem to have found Chelsea’s weak spot.
69 min: Can plays a ball through the centre towards Lallana, but Chelsea clear.
67 min: Diego Costa slides in to try to poke home a teasing ball across the face of Liverpool’s goal by Willian. It’s beyond his reach and the chance goes a begging.
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65 min: James Milner goes down on the left side of the Chelsea penalty area. Victor Moses looked to have given him a bit of a shove in the back, but no spot-kick is forthcoming. Mark Clattenburg had a perfect view of that and I think he made the correct decision.
63 min: Emre Can picks up a cross on the right side of the Chelsea penalty area, cuts inside and attempts to curl a shot goalwards. It’s blocked. Liverpool’s tails are up and they’re in the ascendency at the moment.
62 min: Housekeeping: James Milner got booked for a foul on Victor Moses shortly after Chelsea kicked off following Liverpool’s equaliser.
61 min: Liverpool go close again, with a similar move to that with which they scored. This time it’s Lallana who goes close.
58 min: Wijnaldum scores his third of the season after great work by Henderson. He advanced down the inside right and shaped to shoot, before crossing deep to James Milner. Having got in behind the Chelsea defence, he headed across the face of goal. The ball deflected off the shoulder of Victor Moses and sat up nicely for Wijnaldum to head home.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Wijnaldum)
57 min: Wijnaldum heads home from about five yards out to level the score at Anfield.
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56 min: Lovren and Mignolet almost get themselves in all sorts of bother trying to play the ball out from the back. The Liverpool fans behind Mignolet’s goal let them know in the strongest possible terms that Up With That Kind Of Fannying Around They Will Not Put.
54 min: Willian tries to play the ball into the path of Moses, running into the Liverpool penalty area. They get their wires crossed and what looked a promising move breaks down.
53 min: Moses tries to take on and beat Milner down the right flank. The Liverpool full-back is having none of it, but is forced to concede a throw-in.
51 min: On the edge of the Liverpool box, Costa plays the ball wide to Moses on the right touchline. A couple of passes later, Moses cuts inside and tries to beat Mignolet at his near post from a tight angle. Wide.
50 min: Dejan Lovren tries his luck from distance, with predictably hilarious consequences. High and wide.
48 min: Chance! Firmino scoops the ball high over the bar when he had all the time in the world to take a touch and blast Liverpool level from about eight yards out with nobody but Thibaut Courtois to beat. His was the final, awful touch at the end of a great Liverpool counter-attack where Lallana and Coutinho combined beautifully down the inside right to tee him up.
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46 min: Roberto Firmino bustles his way into the Chelsea box, wriggles behind David Luiz and tries to square the ball. It’s half-cleared and Matic is forced to clear again with Wijnaldum lurking. Liverpool continue to look toothless around the edges of the final third.
Second half: Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea
46 min: Chelsea get the second half started, leading by the only goal of the game. There are no changes in personnel on either side.
Tonight's other latest scores ...
Premier League: You can the top flight’s other latest scores, including Arsenal getting their pants pulled down by Watford, by clicking on this link.
Half-time: Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea
Chelsea lead at the interval: Chelsea lead through David Luiz’s audacious free-kick after a first half that was low on chances and entertainment. Liverpool look completely bereft of ideas and the only one they do have - attempting to attack Chelsea’s portcullis through the centre just is not working.
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45 min: We’ll have two minutes of added time at the end of the first half.
44 min: “Constantly banging down through the middle of the park all the time, where Chelsea are strong is a waste of time,” says Steve McManaman of Liverpool’s tactics on BT Sport. “They’ve got to try and find a way in behind the wing-backs.”
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41 min: Liverpool’s subs have been warming up on the touchline. Sadio Mane has just left them to go back to his seat on the bench, where a physio has strapped a heat pad or ice-pack around his knee, over his Tracky-Bs.
40 min: Liverpool get to the ball to the edge of the final third and find 10 Chelsea players between ball and the goal. The former is played wide to Nathaniel Clyne, who attempts to square it across the face of the latter. David Luiz intercepts and hacks clear.
39 min: Willian tries a shot from distance, which fizzes high over the cross-bar.
38 min: Liverpool continue to press and probe, but can’t find a way through Chelsea’s defence. Apart from one speculative Gigi Wijnaldum effort from distance, they’ve failed to trouble Chelsea’s goal in any way.
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33 min: David Luiz has picked up a knock. He goes off for treatment, then hobbles back to action. On the touchline, Kurt Zouma and John Terry are warming up.
30 min: Jurgen Klopp and several of his players were complaining vociferously about Chelsea’s goal after it was scored. If their grumble was about the free-kick being awarded to Chelsea, they have a case - Lallana didn’t bring down Hazard, it was more of an accidental collision between the pair after the Chelsea man had lost control of the ball. If their complaint was about Luiz taking the free-kick from which he scored too quickly, they can have no grumble. Referee Mark Clattenburg clearly blew his whistle before Luiz struck the free-kick, allowing him to catch Liverpool’s players napping.
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29 min: Chelsea win a free-kick wide on the left. Willian curls the ball across the face of goal, where the unmarked Luiz and Nemanja Matic somehow contrive to not score between them. That was practically identical to Wolves’ opener against Liverpool on Saturday, except from the other side of the pitch. Atrocious defending by Liverpool, but they got away with it this time.
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25 min: The much-maligned David Luiz, whose abilities were traduced by no end of people you’d think would know better upon his return to Chelsea, scores with a wonderful free-kick. Adam Lallana brought down Eden Hazard to give Chelsea a free-kick just outside the penalty area. Willian was lining it up, but while Simon Mignolet was still trying to organise his wall and get in position, Luiz darted forward and whipped a wonderful shot in off the left upright with the side of his foot from around 30 yards out.
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GOAL! Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea (Luiz 25)
25 min: David Luiz opens the scoring with a sensational free-kick.
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23 min: Moses loses possession halfway inside his own half, but Willian works hard to get back and relieve Philippe Coutinho of possession ins a dangerous position.
21 min: Moses and Willian combine down the right on a Chelsea counter-attack. The Brazilian attempts to cross the ball towards Diego Costa in the centre, but Joel Matip is quick out to intercept and concede the throw-in.
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19 min: Willian shoots from outside the penalty area when perhaps he should have squared the ball from the right. James Milner blocks his effort and puts the ball out for a corner. Nothing comes of it.
18 min: Diego Costa changes his boots.
17 min: “It’s been an encouraging 16-and-a-half minutes for Liverpool,” says BT Sport’s commentator Darren Fletcher. They’ve had a lot of the ball, I suppose, which is encouraging. They’ve struggled to lay anything resembling a glove on the Premier League’s most parsimonious team so far.
14 min: This is fairly uninspiring football. There’s plenty of huff and puff from both teams, most of which is taking place in the middle third of the pitch. Willian tries to run on to a Victor Moses pass down the right flank, but it runs out of play before he can stop it.
11 min: Shot! Gigi Wijnaldum forces the first save of the evening with a rasping drive from distance. After a long ball from the back by Mignolet, Philippe Coutinho teed up the Dutchman, who unleashed a rising shot that Thibaut Courtois dived to his left and beat clear.
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10 min: Liverpool almost find a way through the well organised Chelsea rearguard after good work from Milner and Lallana. Almost, but not quite.
8 min: No shots on goal by either team to report after eight minutes in a match that’s been fairly cagey so far. after lots of passes from player to player, many of them backwards (the passes, not the players), a cross-field ball from Henderson towards Milner in the corner goes out of play for a goal kick.
7 min: Emre Can picks out James Milner with a pass to the touchline near halfway and he plays it forward to Philippe Coutinho. Chelsea clear their lines.
6 min: Victor Moses larrups the ball out of play near half-way, giving Liverpool a throw-in.
4 min: Liverpool advance down the left, with Emre Can attempting to pick out Roberto Firmino. Luiz cuts it out. Meanwhile at the Emirates, Arsenal are already 2-0 down against Watford. Oh, Arsenal.
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3 min: Liverpool win themselves a corner. The ball’s swung into the six-yard box, where David Luiz clears with a good header.
2 min: Liverpool dominate possession in the very early stages, pinging the ball about as they probe for the openings they’ve found so hard to come by in recent matches.
Liverpool kick-off ...
1 min: Liverpool get the ball rolling across the slick surface, their players wearing their customary home strip of red shirts, red shorts and red socks. Chelsea’s players wear blue shirts and shorts, with white socks.
Not long now ...
The teams are out on the pitch, the Kop are singing You’ll Never Walk Alone and Mark Clattenburg is getting ready to blow his whistle as the rain continues to pour down. Antonio Conte is protecting his luxuriant and expensive barnet with a black Chelsea baseball cap.
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A question from Drew Gough
“One for the nerds out there,” he writes. “In light of so many matches being played on deadline day: has a player ever been sold while playing a match?” I doubt it, Drew, as he’d be unable to sign his contract and would - presumably - be ineligible if he did at half time. As far as I know, a manager or two has been sacked at half-time. Martin Jol at Spurs seems to ring a faint bell.
Jurgen Klopp speaks ...
Asked about Sadio Mane being on the bench, he says: “He’s ready. We had really important sessions in training for the past two days, which he wasn’t part of. But he was there this morning and he told me ‘I’m ready, boss’.” He also says that Liverpool have 16 matches left to show people how good Liverpool can be. It’s worth remembering that, for all their current problems, Liverpool’s record against top six teams in the Premier League is excellent.
Weather report
It is currently pelting down with rain at Anfield, where the temperature is a nine degrees as the players from both teams conduct their pre-match warm-up routines.
It's also Transfer Deadline Day ...
In what can only be described as hideously bad planning, the Premier League have scheduled seven Premier League matches to clash with the closing hours of the January transfer window. Marcus Christenson is all over the important business of the evening - keep him company as he loses what’s left of his sanity after 31 days of monitoring January’s comings and goings.
Liverpool v Chelsea line-ups
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Matip, Lovren, Milner, Can, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Lallana, Firmino, Coutinho.
Subs: Karius, Sturridge, Klavan, Moreno, Mane, Lucas, Origi.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill, Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso, Willian, Costa, Hazard.
Subs: Begovic, Fabregas, Zouma, Pedro, Batshuayi, Terry, Chalobah.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear)
Sadio Mane is on the bench for Liverpool ...
The absence of Sadio Mane may have been over-stated while he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal. As good as he is, it’s worth bearing in mind that in his last appearance for Liverpool they failed to beat Sunderland. Anyway, he’s back from Gabon and is among the substitutes for tonight’s match.
Feuille de match à Anfield pic.twitter.com/5JiqJYib4U
— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) January 31, 2017
Greetings sports fans ...
Liverpool’s match against Chelsea is the stand-out fixture on a busy night of Premier League action, when Chelsea will be hoping to maintain or increase their eight-point lead over Arsenal. Liverpool are hoping to avoid the ignominy of losing their fourth consecutive home match, a misfortune that last befell them almost 100 years ago. Jurgen Klopp’s side have been out of sorts of late, going out of the EFL Cup and FA Cup in the space of a few days. Should they lose tonight, any faint hopes even their most optimistic fans might be entertaining of winning the title will surely evaporate. Kick off is at 8pm (GMT), but we’ll be here with team news just as soon as we get it.
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