Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

Liverpool brushed aside Chelsea’s challenge at Anfield to move two points clear at the top of the table.

The game was a slow burner at the start with neither team intent on pressing the initiative. However, the hosts slowly grew into their passing rhythm and created a few chances. The first of those opportunities fell to Mohamed Salah, who fired his volley straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga. Sadio Mane, too, went close moments later but the score remained deadlocked at the break.

In the second period, the home side found their stride and put Chelsea under immediate strife. The Reds were rewarded for their endeavours in the 51st minute when Mane was accorded the freedom of the six-yard box to nod home. A couple of minutes later, Salah blistered the ball past Kepa and into the top corner to double Liverpool’s advantage.

Though Chelsea had a few openings of their own in the second half, they couldn’t make the net bulge.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game:

#5 Liverpool’s second half salvo blows Chelsea away

Liverpool came into the game having watched Manchester City claim three points at Selhurst Park. Subsequently, the Cityzens went a point clear of the Reds before the latter’s game against Chelsea kicked off. Thus, the emphasis was on Jurgen Klopp’s men to tilt the table in their favour.

Also See : Gold Cup Standings, Copa America Standings, EPL Transfer News.

Unsurprisingly, the hosts started off cautiously and weren’t too gung-ho in their approach. The visitors, meanwhile, set up defensively and tried to pounce on the break. Hence, the game wasn’t an exciting watch for the neutral in the first half.

However, in the second period, Liverpool looked a team possessed. The Reds moved the ball around with purpose, switched the play from side to side and dragged Chelsea into uncomfortable areas.

The hosts’ tactics paid off when one such flowing move allowed Jordan Henderson the time and space to pick out his cross.

The Englishman did so beautifully and Mane was left with the easy task of heading into an empty net. In the 53rd minute, Salah blitzed the ball past Kepa to give the Reds a two-goal cushion. Hence, the home side had established a two-goal advantage in a trice.

For the entirety of the first half, Chelsea looked a formidable opponent, one capable of surprising Liverpool. Yet, the Reds’ salvo at the start of the second half knocked the stuffing out of the West Londoners.

And five years on from when things went so horribly pear-shaped before the half-time whistle, Liverpool did all the damage on the other side of it.

#4 Chelsea left to rue their missed opportunities

Hazard missed a couple of crucial chances

The game was meandering along in the opening half. Both teams cancelled each other out and neither was willing to prioritise creativity at the cost of calculation. However, a string of body blows by Liverpool before the hour mark, caught Chelsea off-guard. Though the away side failed to recover from the quick goals, it certainly wasn’t due to a paucity of chances.

Just after ceding a two-goal advantage, the visitors had the opportunity to half the deficit. Eden Hazard was played through superbly and the Belgian kept his calm to take the long ball in his stride. The forward then went eyeball to eyeball with Alisson but could only strike his effort against the post.

Moments later, Hazard was accorded the chance to redeem himself. Yet, he could only muster a tame shot at Alisson from an Azpilicueta cross.

After the said instances, Gonzalo Higuain was sent free down the left channel but the Argentine’s indecisiveness allowed Virgil van Dijk to step in. Throughout the second period, Chelsea kept pushing and probing but their decision making in the final third left a lot to be desired.

Though the away side ended the match second best, they certainly had openings to get back into the game. Yet, as it turned out, Chelsea were left licking its own wounds rather than inflicting a cut on Liverpool’s title charge.

#3 Liverpool overpower Chelsea in midfield

For the second game running, Klopp preferred the midfield trio of Fabinho, Henderson and Naby Keita. Though the triumvirate didn’t set the world ablaze in the first half, the partnership certainly prospered after the break.

Fabinho was his calm, unassuming self throughout and recycled possession adroitly. Though N’Golo Kante and Ruben Loftus-Cheek had their moments, the Brazilian largely kept them at bay. Keita, meanwhile, was a constant thorn on the left side of midfield and linked constantly with Andrew Robertson and Mane.

However, the most impressive midfielder on display was Henderson. The Liverpool skipper covered every blade of grass at Anfield. The Englishman formed a solid shield in front of the back four and barely allowed the likes of Jorginho to dictate the tempo. Yet, it was the quality he displayed in the offensive third which shone brighter than the other facets of his performance.

For a while, Henderson’s lack of creativity and incision has been panned. However, Liverpool’s previous two games have seen the Englishman scythe through the opposition with perfectly weighted passes. And though Henderson will still have his critics, there aren’t many as pivotal as him in Liverpool’s title challenge.

#2 Salah silences his big game doubters

Over the course of the season, a lot of criticism has been aimed at Salah for his inability to turn up in the big games. A tally of a solitary goal against the ‘Big Six’ didn’t particularly help his case. However, come Liverpool’s biggest game of the season, the Egyptian rose to the occasion and quelled the nit-picking to a great extent.

From the outset, the forward looked sharp. His movement was exemplary and he drifted in-field to keep Emerson honest. Moreover, he ran in behind the Chelsea defence and caused the visitors’ rear-guard all sorts of problems. Yet, he failed to conjure an end-product in the first half.

His moment of reckoning though, arrived in the 53rd minute. After receiving a pass from Van Dijk, the Egyptian cut inside his man and unleashed a rocket into the far corner. Salah had a part to play in the first goal too as it was his initial run that opened up Chelsea on the right flank.

Before the game at Anfield, Chelsea fans hurled a lot of inexplicable abuse at the forward. Yet, the Egyptian answered those choice remarks on the field with aplomb. The forward has certainly not hit the dizzying heights he set last season. But, when push came to shove on Sunday, Liverpool’s Egyptian god stood up amidst the ruins.

#1 Could this finally be Liverpool’s year?

Can Klopp lead Liverpool to the title they crave?

The last time Liverpool won the English top-flight title, the Premier League hadn’t been born. Thus, one can understand the restless wait the Merseysiders have had to endure over the years.

However, in the 2018-19 season, there has been genuine enthusiasm at Anfield that this year could be their year. And the performance against Chelsea only fuelled that fire.

The victory took the Reds back to the top of the table, albeit having played a match more. However, one mustn’t forget that the game City has in hand is against a certain Manchester United. Thus, the title is anything but a foregone conclusion at the moment.

At times this term, Liverpool has huffed and puffed. Their struggles during January and February a case in point. Yet, they have always found an extra gear when most needed. After all, that is what champions do: win when things aren’t going your way.

Liverpool has endured countless heartbreaks in the Premier League over the years. However, the current season just has a different feel to it. Maybe, just maybe it could be Liverpool’s year.

Yet, the Reds, of all teams, know that four games are ample time for things to turn sour (2014). But, one thing is for sure: Liverpool certainly won’t get a better chance to quench their thirst for the elusive Premier League crown.