Liverpool vs Chelsea Post Match Analysis & Discussion
The premier league always has exciting matches for us. Every week or almost every week there's a blockbuster game that people will love to watch. This week it was Liverpool vs Chelsea. At Anfield. Liverpool's home ground has been a formidable place for the reds. They've started season in a good form last season's all the injured players have returned. And most importantly Virgil Van Dijk. Van Dijk has another record under his belt. And that is that Liverpool has never lost at Anfield when Van Dijk has played.
Chelsea are also in their own mood. Under Thomas Tuchel they are a changed team. After winning the UEFA champions league suddenly whole Europe fears Chelsea, and their tremendous squad depth. They have world class players in every position. Along with academy graduates who can easily walk into some of Europe's elite teams.
Since the beginning of the game Liverpool were somewhat dominant. They bossed possession and created chances. Chelsea on the other hand were playing on the counter. Both teams created chance after chance and they scarcely got away from another. Untill there was a corner in the 22nd minute, taken by Reece James. The inswinging ball was headed by Kai Havertz that landed in the far side of the net. 1-0 to Chelsea. Liverpool felt the pressure of trailing in their home match. They pushed and pushed and Chelsea pushed too.
But at the first half stoppage time Liverpool crowded Chelsea's box and shot for goal 3-4 times untill it was unintentionally handled by Reece James. The ball had first struck his thigh then touched his arm. Which according to the handball rules in the premier league isn't a red card. But the referee didn't watch the clip in VAR rather watched a freeze frame of the ball touching James's arm and showed him a straight red. This caused disrupt between the players and Azpilicueta, Mendy and Rudiger were yellowed. The incident led to a penalty which Salah scored from. The two teams headed towards the dressing room at half time with a score of 1-1.
Second half saw a 10 men Chelsea playing defensive. Scorer Kai Havertz was sacrificed to compensate the hole in the defensive shape of the team and was subbed by Thiago Silva. And Chelsea defended the Liverpool attack for the entirety of the second half. And they showed their class in defending. Clean tackles and interceptions kept the likes of Salah, Mane and Jota at bay. In the end Liverpool couldn't score another goal and they were held to a 1-1 draw against a 10 men Chelsea at their own background. Pundits will say Liverpool are at fault having not being able to score a goal in the game from open play but credit where credit is due, Chelsea defended superbly. Also the referee Anthony Taylor made a very controversial decision which should be looked into.
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