Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1
Chelsea finally end their losing streak. The losing streak of 6 games in a row in the Premier League for Chelsea has finally come to an end in a game which they really should have won if they were more clinical, Liverpool however got off to the perfect start six minutes in as a free-kick was played short to Ngumoha who played the ball to Gravenberch on the edge of the box who curled a beauty past Jorgensen to put Liverpool 1-0 in front. A few minutes later a Szoboszlai cross went deep to the back post where Van Dijk was unmarked but couldn’t connect sweetly with the ball which went just over the bar as Liverpool searched for a second, Chelsea began to grow into the game near the end of the half and equalised in the 35th minute from an Enzo Fernandez free-kick which missed everyone and found the bottom corner to make it 1-1 heading into half-time. Just after half-time Chelsea thought they edged in front as Cucurella was found in behind down the left playing the ball in the middle for Joao Pedro who had his shot saved but only to Cole Palmer who dispatched neatly only for the goal to be disallowed by VAR due to Cucurella just being offside in the build-up, Liverpool hit the woodwork twice from Van Dijk and Szoboszlai along with Chelsea having a pretty blatant penalty shout turned away as both sides were probably annoyed only coming away with a point each.
I can’t understand Chelsea football club. The problem with Chelsea this season has been consistency with there being games that you watch them and think, “ this is a really good team” and there’s other times you watch them and think, “ these guys couldn’t care less” which is why they are currently sitting 9th in the table and could be lower if results don’t go there way for the rest of the weekend. I thought Chelsea played really well today particularly in the midfield where I thought Moises Caicedo was the best player on the pitch and showed that when he’s on form he can be the best midfielder in the league, the return of Levi Colwill played a big part in Chelsea’s performance today as well as he’s by some distance Chelsea’s best centre-back when he’s fit which we saw today. Another player who played well for Chelsea was Cucurella at left-wing which was an interesting choice but worked as he got in behind multiple times in the game which led to good opportunities for Chelsea all game, it’s just a shame we didn’t get a return to form from Cole Palmer who yet again had a relatively quiet game by his standards along with Joao Pedro which is ultimately why Chelsea probably didn’t get the win today. Still lots of positives to take heading into the FA cup final next Saturday which is make or break for Chelsea this season.
Another pretty lacklustre performance from Liverpool. The boos at full-time told the story as Liverpool dropped points yet again at home to a big six side but I do have a tiny bit of sympathy for Arne Slot in that his current attack is absolutely dreadful apart from Ngumoha who he took off in the 67th minute which was met by boos by just about everyone inside Anfield today, keeping Frimpong on the right who might just be one of Liverpool’s worst signings in recent memory over Ngumoha who looked dangerous every time he got the ball won’t help Slot keep any fans at the moment as he continues to look sorry on the touchline. Playing Gakpo at striker hasn’t worked either giving the Chelsea centre-backs an easy game before he came off in the 77th minute, even when Isak came on the story was the same with the Swede only managing 7 touches in 30 minutes which about sums up his time at Liverpool so far. On a more positive front I thought Gravenberch was superb today having a brilliant midfield battle with Caicedo in there which was enthralling to watch for 90 minutes, the other positive for Liverpool was Rio Ngumoha who continues to be the only bright spark in the Liverpool attack adding excitement every time he was on the ball which you can’t say for the other attackers. A disappointing result for Liverpool who probably just want the season to end at this point.
Arne Slot cannot be leading Liverpool into next season. It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard loud boos at Anfield not once but twice in the same game but I think it sums up the sentiment surrounding Arne Slot at Liverpool at the minute, normally Anfield is supportive no matter what win, lose or draw but booing when Rio Ngumoha got subbed off for the most expensive signing in Premier League history then booing at full-time is exactly why Liverpool need to part ways with Slot in the summer. When you’ve lost the home fans I think it’s very hard to win them back especially at the end of such a disappointing season for Liverpool when they were expected to at the very least challenge to retain the Premier League, the signings apart from Ekitike haven’t been anywhere near the success Liverpool had hoped and they really need an injection of life which I think a new manager would add over the summer. The obvious name is Xabi Alonso with his history at Liverpool along with having already managed Floarian Wirtz and Jeremy Frimpong at Leverkusen so I think he would be the perfect manager to come in and bring some optimism back to Anfield, will Liverpool change the manager in the summer? I’m not so sure.
Champions League football still not secured for Liverpool. Today was a big chance for Liverpool to all but secure qualification but hey still have work to do on that front over the next two games, they currently sit in 4th place on 59 points but if Bournemouth win later on they’ll be 4 points behind Liverpool with two games to play so they aren’t home and dry just yet. Liverpool’s last two games are Aston Villa(A) and Brentford(H) so you would imagine that they’ll get the points needed considering Villa have a Europa League final to worry about in the midweek after the Liverpool game, for Chelsea their best way to get into Europe is on Saturday where a win against City would put them in the Europa League for next season which would be a relative success considering their league position at the minute, one game to save their season for Chelsea next Saturday. Can they cause an upset at Wembley against City? Why not.