Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool, Premier League: Post-match reaction

Liverpool dominated possession for basically the entire match, regardless of facing 11 or 10 men, but in the first half at least, Chelsea were able to defend well enough — bend but not break — while posing decent threat on the counter, where only a couple inaccurate passes and a couple unlucky bounces prevented Werner and/or Havertz from taking the lead.

Werner missed one by just inches in fact, while at the other end, Christensen made a great play to clear off the line after a spinning ball left Kepa stranded wide.

Unfortunately, Christensen’s (and Chelsea’s) good work was undone on the stroke of half-time by a lapse in concentration and a silly tackle (literally, with both arms) from behind on Sadio Mane, who made a nice run behind the high line onto a long ball forward.

It didn’t take long for things to unravel in the second half. Just five minutes after the restart, Liverpool found their goal (Firmino to Salah to Mane), then got a quick second after Mane intercepted Kepa’s pass and scored his second into the empty net.

Surprisingly, Chelsea didn’t give away any more goals after that, while managing to miss a penalty as well, which was well won by Werner. Alisson was wise to Jorginho’s shenanigans however.

As impressive as Liverpool were at times, Fabinho and Mane won this with their individual play, while a couple individual errors on our end consigned Chelsea to defeat

We will have better days.

Carefree.

• Chelsea start in a 4-3-3, with one change from last week: Kovačić replacing Loftus-Cheek.
• Havertz deployed as a center forward of sorts, with Werner making runs off the left side.
• Tomori & Zouma partnership restored for the second half, Chelsea going 4-3-2 with Werner & Mount up top. Late-on switch to 4-2-3 with Abraham joining Werner & Mount, and Barkley alongside Kante in midfield.
• Next up: Barnsley on Wednesday in the League Cup third round, then West Brom away next weekend.
• KTBFFH

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