FULL TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
And that’s that. The draw is a fair result on the balance of play, though having shipped yet another late goal, Liverpool will feel it’s yet another win squandered. The frown creasing Jurgen Klopp’s face suggests exactly that. Chelsea look pretty happy with their point by contrast, Antonio Conte giving the away fans a few passionate “come on”s. The draw keeps Chelsea in third, while Liverpool remain stuck in fifth, the chance to leapfrog Tottenham into fourth having passed them by. Not only that, they could be displaced by Arsenal or Burnley tomorrow. So close but yet so far.
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90 min +2: Liverpool ping it around the middle of the park, but there’s nowhere for them to go. Chelsea holding their shape, all routes forward blocked.
90 min +1: Milner tees up Salah, on the right-hand edge of the Chelsea D. He sends a dipping volley towards the bottom right. Courtois turns it around the post for a corner that comes to nothing.
90 min: There will be three additional minutes.
89 min: Liverpool make a desperate late double-change. Mane and Lallana come on for Oxlade-Chamberlain and Coutinho.
87 min: Liverpool have paid the price for inviting the champions of England to come at them. And there’s nearly more pain for the hosts as Morata tears down the right. Nobody’s kept up with him, though, and his low cross comes to nothing.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Willian 85)
Willian picks the ball up, just outside the Liverpool D. He drifts right and, turning, sends the ball looping to the far stick. The arc deceives a frantically backpedalling Mignolet and drops into the top left! Cross or shot? You decide!
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84 min: Chelsea are pushing Liverpool back. The home side can’t get out of their final third.
83 min: Zappacosta curls deep from the right. The ball drops to Alonso, to the left of the penalty spot. He balloons a volley over the bar. A chance, albeit a very difficult one. It’s Zappacosta’s last act of the evening; he’s replaced by Willian, Antonio Conte’s last throw of the dice.
81 min: Salah very nearly bursts clear into the penalty box down the left, but has to make do for a corner. From the set piece, Wijnaldum sends the ball towards the top left, accidentally, with his flailing arm, his back to goal. Courtois claims anyway.
80 min: From the Liverpool corner, Chelsea attempt to break. They should send Hazard clear down the left, but both pass and run are mistimed. Then another launch forward. This time Morata nearly gets clear in the box down the left, but Gomez gets involved to divert the ball out for a corner. Nothing comes of that set piece.
78 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain, on the right, sprays left for Salah, who tears forward then lays off to Wijnaldum. The Dutch midfielder shoots from the edge of the box, his effort clanking off Cahill and out for a corner on the left. Liverpool claim a penalty for hand ball, but once again, Cahill was standing right next to his opponent, and couldn’t get his arm out of the way even if he wanted to.
77 min: Pedro comes on for Bakayoko.
76 min: Fabregas, quarterbacking in the centre circle, loops a pass down the left channel to release Morata. The flag goes up, correctly, as the striker lashes across Mignolet and out to the right.
75 min: Chelsea continue to press Liverpool back. Some more head tennis on the edge of the Liverpool area. But suddenly Henderson rakes a ball down the left to release Salah on the break. There’s nobody in red keeping up with Salah, though, and eventually the move peters out.
74 min: Fabregas comes on for Drinkwater.
73 min: Chelsea will always have chances against this Liverpool defence, though. A ball’s swung in from the right. Matip heads it down rather than out. Klavan batters a clearance into his nearest team-mate. Eventually Moreno steps in to hack clear. What a nonsense. On another day, that would have fallen at the feet of either Bakayoko or Morata.
72 min: It’s all a bit scrappy. Zappacosta is in space out on the right, but doesn’t get the ball he wanted or needed. Then Salah has a run at the Chelsea box down the left, but instead of driving on, flicks wide for Moreno, who had run the length of the pitch to feed his team-mate in the first place and didn’t really want the return ball.
70 min: That goal came out of nowhere, and may have understandably shocked Chelsea a little bit. To clear their heads, they knock it around the back awhile. Liverpool don’t chase them down too hard.
68 min: That was a fine finish by Salah, who was calmness personified amid a confused, hectic muddle. Anfield had fallen a little quiet, the home fans pensive. There’s a bit more noise now.
66 min: Liverpool make a change they were preparing to make anyway: Sturridge is replaced by Wijnaldum.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Salah 65)
Liverpool burst into life, get a lucky break, and grab the lead! Coutinho races in from the left. He looks for Salah on the edge of the area, but can only find Bakayoko. The Chelsea midfielder, facing his own goal on the edge of the D, can’t trap or connect. His fluff allows Oxlade-Chamberlain, just behind him, to toe-poke the ball forward for Salah, who eventually gets possession and slams into the bottom right past the advancing Courtois! Yet another goal by the Premier League’s leading scorer, but he doesn’t celebrate this one out of respect for his old club.
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63 min: Liverpool have been shocked into action, Chelsea so nearly going ahead. Now there’s a little space for Sturridge on the left. He’s in the area, but his low, hard shot is blocked by a fine tackle from Azpilicueta. The ball twangs out for a corner, and the set piece comes to nothing, easily claimed by Courtois.
62 min: Chelsea are beginning to cause Liverpool serious problems. Room for Drinkwater out on the right. He fires a cross towards Morata by the near post. The striker can only bundle the ball out, wide right, for a goal kick. Liverpool counter themselves, Salah very nearly carving out space to shoot from the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. But he’s crowded out.
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60 min: A huge escape for Liverpool as Chelsea tear upfield on a counter attack, Zappacosta striding into the box from the right. He fizzes a glorious ball along the corridor of uncertainty. Surely a blue shirt will bundle the ball in from close range? But it somehow evades everyone, including the sliding Gomez, whose slapstick attempt to slide the ball out for a corner at least puts Morata and Bakayoko off at the left-hand post.
59 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain goes racing after a long ball down the right. It’s a footrace between him and Courtois, who comes out to the left-hand edge of his area and stops the ball with his hand on the white line. Fine keeping. Oxlade-Chamberlain claims for a penalty, but his heart’s clearly not in it.
57 min: More Liverpool passing, and this is a little better. Sturridge finds a gap down the right and enters the box, flicking a pass inside which hits Cahill on the top of his arm. He claims a penalty, but he’s never getting it, the two players were so close together. Eventually the pressure on Chelsea is released as Milner pointlessly upends Hazard.
56 min: Liverpool are hogging the ball, but doing very little with it. A lot of pointless passing in the midfield. They go nowhere. Chelsea sit back and hold their shape.
55 min: Henderson has a dig from 25 yards, roughly in the same position from where he scored at Stamford Bridge last year. The results are not the same.
54 min: Matip meets the corner with his head, but only manages to send the ball flying back to Coutinho out on the left. Coutinho hammers low and hard into the mixer; the ball balloons away from danger. Hazard aside, quality has been sorely lacking tonight.
53 min: Salah bursts in from the left and pings a pass to Coutinho, who is immediately clipped to the floor by Bakayoko. A free kick, but it’s a good 30 yards from goal. Coutinho aims for the top left anyway. It’s deflected out for a corner on the left.
51 min: And now a corner for Chelsea, earned by Zappacosta off Henderson down the right. Cahill rises to meet the set piece, ten yards out level with the left-hand post. He sends it harmlessly wide of the target.
49 min: Nearly a farcical own goal by Courtois! Sturridge, twisting in the Chelsea area on the left, sends a low cross fizzing across the face of the six-yard box. Courtois goes down and uncharacteristically allows the ball to squirt through his hands, backwards and very nearly into the bottom right! It sails inches wide of the post. The resulting corner leads to another, which leads to nothing.
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48 min: Alonso and Bakayoko exchange passes down the left and earn a corner off Gomez. Chelsea play it short, and nothing comes from an over-elaborated mess. But there’s a second phase of attack, Hazard bursting into the box down the left and falling over. He’d tangled himself up with Milner’s leg, and so claims a penalty, but for the second time tonight, you’ve seen them given but it’d have been awfully generous. Michael Oliver makes another good decision.
46 min: Liverpool are quickly on the front foot, but when Coutinho has the chance of playing Salah in down the right, he opts to cut inside again, and all momentum is gone. Chelsea, who had looked momentarily out of shape, snap quickly back into it.
Here we go, then, second half coming up! Chelsea get the ball rolling again; Liverpool are playing towards the Kop, which in the second half is how they superstitiously like it. No changes.
Half-time listening: Recommended for fans of Steve Nicol, Sportsnight and the Soccer Six.
Episode 6: Dalglish's @LFC 1985-91, plus Sportnight and the Soccer Six on @ApplePodcasts https://t.co/v9zNrWqAUA
— Nessun Dorma Podcast (@nessundormapod) November 16, 2017
HALF TIME: Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
All square after the first 45, then. The game’s been exciting enough, without producing anything particularly memorable. Chelsea will be the more content, neutralising Liverpool for the most part, while looking intermittently dangerous in attack.
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44 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain tears down the left and stands one up in the middle. The ball’s only half cleared. It’s dropping to Coutinho on the penalty spot. Hazard goes shoulder to shoulder under the dropping ball, and Coutinho clatters to the ground. Hazard makes off with the ball as Liverpool - and their supporters - loudly claim a penalty. But the ref isn’t having it. You’ve seen them given once or twice by generous refs, but still, that would have been a very soft one.
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43 min: Morata has a lash from 25 yards. It’s going wide left of goal, but takes a nick off Matip so that’s a corner. Mignolet comes off his line to claim with confidence.
41 min: Salah turns Cahill, tight to his back, out on the Liverpool right. He then curls immediately towards the bottom left. It’s an inch wide of the post, and Courtois, at full stretch, had it covered anyway. But a fine effort nevertheless. Liverpool haven’t done much in attack, so it’s something.
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40 min: Bakayoko, Morata and Alonso shuttle the ball infield from the left with some pretty passing. Alonso eventually scoops diagonally for Zappacosta, who is lurking in the right of the area with great intent, waiting to thrash a volley goalwards. It forces Henderson to rush back and hack out for a corner. From the set piece, Morata heads harmlessly over. From ten yards out, it goes down as a chance.
38 min: The referee falls over. The biggest cheer of the evening so far. Is it panto season already?
36 min: Liverpool haven’t done much in attack of late, not since Chelsea stepped it up a gear and began launching salvos of their own. Salah tries to remedy that with a bust down the right. He’s stopped unceremoniously by Alonso. The free kick is looped into the mixer, and drops in the six-yard box. Trouble for Liverpool is, nobody’s taken a gamble on it. Chelsea are looking pretty comfortable right now.
33 min: Drinkwater smacks spectacularly into Moreno on the halfway line, right by the dugouts. Moreno remains prone until Drinkwater gives him a mouthful. The referee once again keeps his card in his pocket. Both teams have now benefited from Michael Oliver’s laissez-faire stylings. All fair enough, and we move on.
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32 min: Alonso whips the ball up over the Liverpool wall, and looks to get it down into the top right. Mignolet has it covered, and the ball flies wide of the post. Not far away, though.
31 min: Bakayoko and Morata exchange give-and-go passes down the inside-right channel. Matip stands in the way of Morata, and concedes a free kick to the right of the D. He wears the expression of a man who knows he’s about to be booked, but the ref stops at a lecture. This free kick is in a dangerous position, though.
30 min: Now Chelsea move forward again. Space for Alonso out on the left. He hooks long, hoping to find Morata at the far post. A bit too much on the ball, and it’s a goal kick. But once again the hosts were looking a little disorganised at the back.
27 min: Liverpool decide that the best form of defence is attack. They push forward. Eventually Salah turns in the area from a position tight on the right. He spins a flailing Cahill, who sticks a leg out. Light contact. Salah had the opportunity to go over and try to buy a penalty, but opts to stay on his feet and shoot instead. The effort’s blocked. Chelsea clear. This game’s super-intense, but good fun.
24 min: Liverpool have had most of the ball, but it’s Chelsea who look the most dangerous. Zappacosta blasts goalwards from a position on the right; Mignolet tips over the bar. From the corner, there’s a load of pinball nonsense that even by Liverpool’s recent defensive standards is risible. Cahill nearly converts from a position tight on the left; Bakayoko nearly prods home from six yards out in the middle. Ping, ping, ping, Moreno, Matip, Moreno, Matip, ping, hoof. It’s eventually cleared, but dearie me. All that’s missing is a ramp and a multiball feature.
23 min: Hazard takes a run at Liverpool from deep, and slips a ball down the middle to release Drinkwater. That’s a great move, and a fine run by the Chelsea midfielder. He’s one on one with Mignolet, but there’s pressure from behind by Moreno, and Drinkwater miscontrols. His eventual shot clanks past the advancing Mignolet and out to the left of goal.
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22 min: Mignolet flaps at the corner, but Liverpool somehow manage to bundle the ball away from their danger zone. Job done for now, but they didn’t look like a team full of defensive confidence. Which, to be fair, they’re clearly not.
21 min: A loose ball in the centre circle by Matip is pounced on by Drinkwater, who slides it out to Hazard on the left. Hazard cuts infield and looks for the bottom left from 20 yards. It’s a lovely shot, and turned round the post well by Mignolet.
19 min: Liverpool are nipping into tackles in the Kloppian style. Winning most of the 50-50s in the middle of the park. But they’re getting no joy as they approach Chelsea’s box. Moreno and Sturridge try some quickfire stuff out on the left, but it’s all a bit frantic.
17 min: Gomez, Sturridge and Salah combine well down the right, a couple of times, but both moves peter out quickly enough. Chelsea looking strong and solid in their final third.
15 min: Anfield fell nervously quiet as Chelsea probed the home defence there, and there’s more worry as a simple ball down the middle very nearly releases Drinkwater into absolute acres. A heavy touch lets the home side off the hook. Liverpool break upfield through Oxlade-Chamberlain, who bombs down the left before slapping a low cross towards Milner on the edge of the box. Milner has Coutinho on the outside, but opts for a first-time shot instead, and slices woefully miles wide right and high.
13 min: Hazard and Bakayoko try to get something going down the Chelsea right. They very nearly open Liverpool up, but there’s one shimmy and flick too many, and the ball dribbles out of play for a goal kick.
12 min: Liverpool continue to push Chelsea back. Chelsea continue to hold firm. Coutinho and Moreno combine down the left, the latter overcooking a cross which nevertheless nearly drops to Milner on the far right of the box. Milner traps, but quickly loses control before shaping his body to shoot, and the danger is gone.
10 min: Another long ball hooped down the Liverpool right, this time by Klavan. Sturridge does very well to take it down, turn, and lay off to Salah, who again looks for that top-left corner from distance. The shot’s high and wild.
8 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain has a look down the left. Nothing doing. He turns and shuttles the ball back to Coutinho, who with the help of Henderson sends the ball right for Salah. Another bit of probing comes to nothing. Liverpool are enjoying most of the possession right now, but Chelsea are holding their shape without too much fuss right now. Much as you’d expect from an Antonio Conte team.
6 min: Milner slips a pass down the inside-right channel for Sturridge, who would have enjoyed a shooting opportunity from the edge of the box had he let the ball run right to left across his body. But he took a right-to-left touch instead, and ran into trouble. A nice open start to this game, with both teams on the front foot.
4 min: A loose pass in the midfield by Coutinho allows Hazard to latch onto the ball and burn down the middle of the park. He flicks wide for Morata, though it’s a heavy one, and the striker does well just to stop the ball going out for a goal kick. A bit of faffing leads to a corner, from which the busy Hazard fires low and hard through the area from the right. Liverpool manage to clear without too much fuss, but that’s a fine early statement of intent by the in-form Hazard.
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2 min: Space for Salah down the inside-right channel after Sturridge gathers a long ball well. Salah shapes in the hope of replicating his curler into the top left against Southampton. Cahill blocks it at source.
Hands have been shaken, coins tossed, showtunes sung ... and we’re off! The hosts get the ball rolling; Chelsea are playing towards the Kop in the first half. Liverpool stroke it around the back awhile so everyone gets a touch. Then Gomez hoicks one forward, straight into touch for a goal kick. Chelsea’s turn for a quick knock around the back. Courtois belts long. Throw to Liverpool. A brisk, hectic start, and the only way is up.
The teams are out! A classic look for both sides, as Liverpool wear their famous red while Chelsea sport their equally well-known blue. One for the purists. A game to match, please! Anfield is bouncing, unsurprisingly so given both sets of fans historically enjoy a little back and forth. It’s a cracking atmosphere, the crowd keeping themselves warm on a freezing Mersey evening. We’ll be off in a little while!
Antonio Conte speaks! “This season we are trying to find a solution for more balance. The first part of the season we conceded many goals. Tonight maybe we change something. It’s a normal rotation. Fabregas has played every game this season, and this choice I think is right.”
Jurgen Klopp speaks! “We need to use the quality of the squad. I have absolute trust in the squad, and I have to show it. We cannot let the other boys play until they cannot play any more, so that is why I have changed it. We have fresh legs in, still quality, and options to change during the game. Ox will play like Mane plays, with his own skills of course, while Milner has desire and experience. It is important for us to defend well; it will be quite an intense game.”
Football’s a squad game these days all right. And by way of illustration, both teams make five changes to the starting line-ups named in the Champions League midweek.
Liverpool must do without the injured Dejan Lovren. They’ve also parked Loris Karius, Georginio Wijnaldum, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane on the bench. Stepping into a slightly surprising, boldly rejigged XI: Simon Mignolet, Joel Matip, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge.
Chelsea bench five of their starters at Qarabag. Out go David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger, Cesc Fabregas, Willian and Pedro. Stepping into a slightly surprising, boldly rejigged XI: Andreas Christensen, Gary Cahill, Danny Drinkwater, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata.
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The teams
Liverpool: Mignolet, Gomez, Matip, Klavan, Moreno, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Milner, Salah, Sturridge, Coutinho.
Subs: Karius, Wijnaldum, Firmino, Mane, Lallana, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold.
Chelsea: Courtois, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Cahill, Zappacosta, Drinkwater, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso, Hazard, Morata.
Subs: Caballero, Rudiger, Fabregas, Pedro, Moses, Willian, Luiz.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Good evening!
Liverpool should be feeling pretty darn good about themselves right now. They’ve won four of their last five matches, drawing the other. They’re currently scoring goals at the rate of 3.2 per game. They boast the country’s leading scorer, Mo Salah, who doesn’t even play as a striker. And they’re very pretty on the eye.
But the thing is, we all know how the defence debased themselves in Andalusia last Tuesday. It’s been the story of their season so far: victories tossed away against Watford, Newcastle and Sevilla (twice); painful pastings at Manchester City and Tottenham. And to think Jurgen Klopp’s side only recently had the number of the division’s top teams! A surprisingly fine defensive record at home - only one goal conceded in six games - will give them a little succour, but not enough of the stuff to take anything or anyone for granted.
The reigning champions Chelsea aren’t quite so recklessly haphazard. They’ll certainly be feeling pretty darn good about themselves right now: they’re on a run of three wins on the bounce, having seen off Manchester United, West Brom and Qarabag, spanking four goals apiece past the latter pair. They’ve won six of their last seven, scoring goals at a rate of 2.3 per match. And team heartbeat Eden Hazard looks in ominous form.
Yet it’s been a slightly strange campaign for Antonio Conte’s men. They were forensically cut apart by Manchester City in an early-season title showdown. They came a cropper at Crystal Palace, for goodness sake. And Roma sent six goals whistling into their net in two Champions League matches. It’s been good. But far from perfect.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying: none of us have any idea which Liverpool, or which Chelsea, will turn up at Anfield this evening. Freewheeling Chelsea? Freewheeling Liverpool? Parsimonious Chelsea? Parsimonious Liverpool?!? Plus the recent head-to-head is about as much use as this season’s form book. The Reds are unbeaten in the last five against the Blues, winning two of the last four. But both of those wins came at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea haven’t lost at Anfield since May 2012, and only then because they sent out a half-arsed team with both eyes trained on the upcoming Champions League final. So good luck calling it. There’s only one thing we can say for sure: it’s on!
Kick off: 5.30pm GMT.
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