Chelsea were held to yet another 0-0 draw by Liverpool on Tuesday in their first match since sacking coach Graham Potter with both sides displaying the same problems that have left them miles off the pace in this season’s Premier League.
The goalless stalemate was the fourth in a row between the two teams – including last season’s FA and League Cup finals both of which Liverpool won on penalties.
Big-spending Chelsea dominated much of the Stamford Bridge encounter against a much-changed Liverpool side, who seemed visibly low on confidence following their chastening 4-1 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday.
Champions League heavyweights now facing scrap for minor places
Chelsea vs. Liverpool fixtures are usually explosive, high-stakes clashes with titles or cups on the line, especially at this time of year.
But after these two Premier League giants and Champions League heavyweights the last two English clubs to lift the European Cup played out a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge, it meant that they are now playing for the dubious honour of places in the Europa League and Conference League.
But for two clubs with eight Champions League titles between them, the prospect of playing out the season for the prize of a place among European football’s minnows next season will be a galling one.
Liverpool are now seven points adrift of the top four and fading fast after scoring one in three league games since beating Manchester United 7-0 last month. The chase for the final European spots sums up where these two clubs are, however, following a dismal season for both.
In this game, Chelsea had the better chances and saw two goals ruled out — one for offside and the other for handball but they showed little sign of a positive bounce under interim manager Bruno Saltor. And Liverpool were flat and bereft of energy and ideas following their heavy defeat at the Etihad.
Jurgen Klopp’s changes made little sense in Liverpool’s push for top four
Klopp made six changes to his team following Liverpool’s 4-1 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday and only one the sick Virgil van Dijk was enforced on the Reds’ manager.
Considering the manner of their defeat at the Etihad, Klopp could argue that none of his players deserved to start at Stamford Bridge, but his selection did not seem like a ruthless display of a manager dropping his under-performing stars.
Mohamed Salah was rested rather than dropped, as was Andy Robertson. Both came off the substitutes’ bench in the second-half. Trent Alexander-Arnold was poor at the Etihad, but Cody Gakpo was a rare shining light in defeat, yet he was on the bench too. Harvey Elliott meanwhile didn’t even make the bench.
Klopp might simply have decided that, with this game sandwiched between the City fixture and a clash with Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, he had to inject some freshness into his team.
Kovacic blazed a glorious chance over soon after the interval, while Havertz’s effort was disallowed for handball when the German’s shot hit Liverpool keeper Alisson Becker and rebounded into the net off his arm.
Leicester’s first game since Brendan Rodgers’ departure on Sunday ended in a 2-1 defeat against Aston Villa at the King Power Stadium.
The Foxes, led by caretaker bosses Mike Stowell and Adam Sadler after Rodgers’ exit by “mutual agreement”, have now gone seven league games without a win and sit second bottom of the table.
Ollie Watkins put Villa ahead in the 24th minute and although Harvey Barnes equalised after 35 minutes, Leicester’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was sent off in the 70th minute for a second booking.
Bertrand Traore’s 87th-minute curler, his first goal for Villa since 2021, piled on the misery for Leicester.
Leeds climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest at Elland Road.
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