Axel Dsasi, making his debut for Chelsea, equalized Luis Diaz’s opening goal for Liverpool, who fielded an offensive lineup.
In an open contest at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Liverpool provided a game that did little to dispel rumors that their seasons might be in for a wild ride.
The Reds had the upper hand in the opening exchanges, and after Mo Salah’s curling effort from the edge of the box had hit the crossbar, Luis Diaz converted an excellent cross from the Egyptian across the box.
However, as Chelsea improved and Axel Disasi snuck in behind a sluggish defense to equalize on his debut, Liverpool’s weakness in the middle of the field was revealed. Liverpool could have scored more goals and had Salah have a goal disallowed by VAR.
In the second half, both teams had their chances, and Liverpool had a strong claim for a penalty after Nicolas Jackson was handballed.
The game concluded in a stalemate after 90 minutes for the seventh time in a row in this matchup despite attempts from Liverpool substitute Darwin Nunez and Chelsea substitute Mykhaylo Mudryk going just wide.
These key discussion points are listed.
1. Reds go on the attack
Cody Gakpo made his debut in a position off the front three (Photo: AP)
When you don’t have enough midfielders, what do you do? You add more attackers to the game.
Some may have been surprised by Liverpool’s initial lineup, but if you watched enough of their preseason – and enough of their lack of transfer activity, although you can’t miss that – it always seemed pretty likely that they would choose Cody Gakpo in an advanced midfield position behind a more traditional front three, with the other two midfielders hardly shrinking violets when it comes to attacking either.When everything comes together, it makes for incredibly engaging entertainment that is also, given the Reds’ early-game attacking, very effective. They were able to dominate a nervous-looking Chelsea team thanks to their setup, and for the first 30 minutes, it appeared as though just one team was scoring.
2. The sharpness and spikiness of Salah
Salah was terrific for the Reds in the opening 45 minutes ( Image: NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
No matter how many midfielders or strikers you have on the field, if one of them is Salah, ultimately things will go south for the opposition.
While positioned on the right, the Egyptian was at the center of all the mayhem the Reds created in the first period. Had his shot that hit the crossbar a little lower, his one that was cleared off the line a little differently, and if he hadn’t been caught offside by VAR, he might have had a hat-trick.
He showed once again that he will be a force to be reckoned with this season, a season in which he’ll want to be on the pitch more often than not based on his reaction to coming off late in the game. For his one impact on the scoresheet in the first half, he threaded a superb ball across the box for Diaz to come barreling in to finish.
He clearly became enraged when he saw the No. 11 listed as a substitute, and his rage was only heightened when each tear of the tape he peeled off his wrists was greeted with joy by joyful Chelsea supporters, who still haven’t forgotten his past here.
Salah might be held accountable by Jurgen Klopp for that, but it was obvious that his impact in the second half had diminished.
3. Chelsea turn the tables
Axel Disasi got Chelsea’s equaliser on his Blues debut ( Image: PA)
However, when you play as Liverpool does, you always leave yourself vulnerable to the opponent taking advantage of your flaw and turning the tables on you, as Chelsea did right after the Salah goal that was disallowed.
In the first half of the game, it had been the Blues who were too simple to play through, but suddenly, it was Liverpool as a frazzled Alexis Mac Allister was surrounded by players and Dominik Szoboszlai’s influence dwindled.
As Chelsea gained momentum, an equalizer suddenly looked like it would happen since Liverpool was unable to keep possession of the ball for long enough. When it finally materialized, with Disasi sneaking in amid sloppy defending, it was only compensation for the hosts sensing where they could exercise dominance, and Liverpool capitulated under the pressure.
4. Pochettino presses his style onto Chelsea
Prior to Chelsea’s improvement in the second half, Pochettino was irritated throughout the whole of the first half.Pochettino, who initially cut a slightly dissatisfied figure for much of the first half until his side’s remarkable improvement, was the mastermind behind all of this.The new manager appeared at home in his surroundings while sporting all-black attire, as we frequently saw him do during his time at Tottenham, and he completely appears to have won over any supporters who were skeptical of his appointment given his Tottenham past.
5. The obvious question
