Liverpool Beaten at Stamford Bridge After Making Six Changes | OneFootball

Chelsea 3 – 1 Liverpool – The Postmortem

With the Premier League title already secured, Liverpool arrived at Stamford Bridge for their Gameweek 35 fixture against a Chelsea side still vying for Champions League qualification. Arne Slot opted for significant squad rotation to appease the calls of some of the fanbase, making six changes from the previous match, including resting key midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. This altered lineup struggled to find rhythm and cohesion, which Chelsea capitalised on to secure a 3-1 victory.

The Starting Elevens

Chelsea:

• GK – Robert Sánchez

• RB – Moisés Caicedo

• CB – Trevoh Chalobah

• CB – Levi Colwill

• LB – Marc Cucurella

• CM – Roméo Lavia

• CM – Enzo Fernández (c)

• RW – Noni Madueke

• CAM – Cole Palmer

• LW – Pedro Neto

• CF – Nicolas Jackson

Liverpool:

• GK – Alisson Becker

• RB – Trent Alexander-Arnold

• CB – Virgil van Dijk (c)

• CB – Jarell Quansah

• LB – Kostas Tsimikas

• CM – Wataru Endo

• CM – Curtis Jones

• CM – Harvey Elliott

• RW – Mohamed Salah

• CF – Diogo Jota

• LW – Cody Gakpo

Substitutes:

Conor Bradley – Trent Alexander Arnold – 58’

Darwin Nunez – Diogo Jota – 58’

Alexis Mac Allister – Wataru Endo – 69’

Dominic Szoboszlai – Harvey Elliott – 69’

Federico Chiesa – Kostas Tsimikas – 82’

Goals (Assisted by)

Chelsea 1 – 0 Liverpool

Enzo Fernández (Pedro Neto) – 3’

Chelsea 2 – 0 Liverpool

Own Goal by Jarell Quansah (Cole Palmer cross) – 56’

Liverpool 2 – 1 Chelsea

Virgil van Dijk (Harvey Elliott corner) – 85’

Chelsea 3 – 1 Liverpool

Cole Palmer (penalty) – 90+6’

Match Statistics

Possession – Chelsea 35% – 65% Liverpool

XG – Chelsea 2.91 – 1.17 Liverpool

Total Shots – Chelsea 17 – 11 Liverpool

Shots on Target – Chelsea 7 – 2 Liverpool

Corners – Chelsea 3 – 6 Liverpool

Fouls – Chelsea 12 – 10 Liverpool

Yellow Cards – Chelsea 2 – 2 Liverpool

Saves – Chelsea 1 – 5 Liverpool

Photo: IMAGO

First Half

Chelsea commenced the match with high intensity, pressing Liverpool’s rotated lineup from the outset. Within three minutes, Enzo Fernández capitalised on a well-placed cutback from Pedro Neto to give the Blues an early lead and it stemmed from a loose pass from Curtis Jones. Liverpool struggled to establish control, with their midfield lacking the usual cohesion. Despite dominating possession, the Reds failed to create significant scoring opportunities in the first half. The lack of desire and intensity was almost predictable, especially with so many pieces coming in that had little cohesion with the first-team elite.

The half ended with Liverpool one goal behind and not showing any signs of being able to compete.

Second Half

No changes were made by Arne Slot as he kept faith with those starting assets which had underwhelmed in the first half.

Liverpool attempted to assert themselves after the break, but a defensive mishap in the 56th minute saw Jarell Quansah inadvertently deflect a Cole Palmer cross into his net, doubling Chelsea’s advantage. Virgil van Dijk provided a glimmer of hope for Liverpool with a well-taken header from a Harvey Elliott corner in the 85th minute, as he was a constant threat from set pieces. However, any chances of a comeback were extinguished in stoppage time when Cole Palmer converted a penalty, awarded after Quansah fouled Moisés Caicedo in the box.

The Blues were good value for their win and the Reds maintained a 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings.

Final Thoughts

You got the sense that a point was being made here, in that the depth of the squad simply isn’t old enough to warrant inclusion. Harvey Elliott was weak and irrelevant, Curtis Jones was lacklustre and wasteful, Trent Alexander Arnold was poor and disinterested, whereas Diogo Jota seemed intent on producing yet another ineffective display.

The first team elite will return next Sunday as Arsenal will travel to Anfield, as the backup assets once again take their seats on the sidelines and watch as the summer rolls into regeneration.

Steven Smith’s Score Prediction:

Chelsea 1 – 2 Liverpool