Chelsea began life without Graham Potter with a 0-0 draw against Liverpool in a battle between two underperforming teams at Stamford Bridge this evening.
The Blues, under interim boss Bruno Saltor, created a string of clear chances but were once again made to rue their wastefulness as a much-changed Liverpool side escaped with a point to end their own three-match losing streak.
Joao Felix, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz all squandered gilt-edged openings for Chelsea to claim all three points, while Reece James and Havertz also saw goals disallowed.
Ultimately, though, the game ended in a draw for the sixth successive meeting between the two sides, with the last four of those all finishing 0-0 after 90 minutes.
The result is still enough to lift Liverpool up a place to eighth, while Chelsea remain 11th in the Premier League table.
HIGHLIGHTS
4th min: Almost a dream start to the Bruno Saltor era at Chelsea as Kostas Tsimikas gives the ball away, sparking a quick Chelsea break that sends Joao Felix bearing down on goal. He beats Joel Matip skilfully, but the Liverpool defender does really well to recover and make an important block.
5th min: This time it is Ibrahima Konate who saves Liverpool, getting back to block the ball on the line after another quick Chelsea counter. Once again, Tsimikas is at fault at the start of it all, giving the ball away, and it eventually breaks to Mateo Kovacic, who takes it around Alisson Becker but is then denied by Konate.
12th min: Chelsea could, and perhaps should, be 3-0 up inside 12 minutes here! This time Kai Havertz is guilty of missing it as he is thwarted by Alisson from point-blank range having got ahead of his man to meet Ben Chilwell's low cross into the box. Another gilt-edged chance goes begging!
24th min: The hosts finally do have the ball in the back of the net as Reece James lashes a first-time strike past Alisson, but the celebrations are short-lived as the linesman's flag is up! Enzo Fernandez was inches offside in the buildup, and VAR upholds the on-field decision.
GOAL DISALLOWED! ❌
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2023
Tough on Reece James who lashes home a brilliant volley 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S6jMRdzAxP
29th min: Another decent sight of goal for Havertz, but he scuffs a hopeless effort well wide.
45+3 min: Liverpool finally call Kepa Arrizabalaga into action, and it comes through an unlikely source as Joe Gomez gets the ball out from his feet and has a go from range, forcing the Chelsea keeper into a flying stop.
45+3 min: The resulting corner then breaks all the way through to Fabinho at the back post and his first-time strike is goalbound, but Wesley Fofana gets his head to it to deflect it behind for another corner.
BIG BLOCK FROM FOFANA ⛔ pic.twitter.com/M4S9UwqCXz
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2023
47th min: Chelsea start the second half as quickly as they did the first, but also as wastefully. N'Golo Kante pokes the ball into the path of Kovacic, who suddenly finds himself clean through on goal with only Alisson to beat. However, he never looks truly confident and ends up lifting his finish well over the bar.
50th min: Stamford Bridge erupts to greet what they think is the first goal, as Chelsea look to finally get a stroke of luck. Havertz is the latest to bear down on goal and tries to dink it over Alisson, who makes the save, but the ball bounces back off Havertz and into the empty net. It looks like a fortuitous goal - albeit a deserved one - but VAR shows that the deflection came off his arm and the goal is therefore disallowed!
DISALLOWED!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2023
The ball struck Havertz arm and is ruled out ❌ pic.twitter.com/xpA7Z2sZ7q
77th min: Chelsea once again have far too much space coming forward and the ball is nodded down to Felix on the edge of the box, but he fires it well over.
MAN OF THE MATCH - N'GOLO KANTE
© Reuters
There were not too many candidates for this award, with Chelsea's attackers guilty of wasting a host of chances and the entire Liverpool team - with the possible exception of Alisson - once again flattering to deceive.
Fernandez deserves a mention, but we are giving this to his midfield partner N'Golo Kante, who slotted straight back into the midfield despite this being his first start since August 14.
Potter may have been watching on cursing his luck that he was never able to start the midfielder, who broke up play in typically effective fashion throughout the game and was perhaps the main reason why Liverpool failed to get anything going in attack.
STANDOUT MOMENT
© Reuters
Another case of slim pickings for this award, to the extent that James Milner coming off the bench for his 610th Premier League appearance - now on his own in third in the all-time list, overtaking Chelsea legend Frank Lampard who was in the crowd - was a serious contender for it.
However, the biggest moment of the game was Havertz's disallowed goal. The German striker did not look comfortable with any of his previous sights of goal and looked for a moment as though he had got the stroke of luck it seems he needs when Alisson's save bounced off him and in.
However, another cruel twist of fate was to come as VAR showed that the ball came off his arm before bobbling into the empty net, ruling the goal out and dampening the cheers of a Stamford Bridge crowd that thought their poor form in front of goal had finally ended.
Honourable mentions should also go to three important defensive contributions from Liverpool in the opening 12 minutes, with Matip and Konate both making big blocks and Alisson making a huge save to prevent Chelsea from putting the result beyond doubt in double-quick time.
BEST STATS
8 - Chelsea have failed to score in the first half of each of their last eight Premier League games at Stamford Bridge, their joint-longest such run in the competition, with the previous instance coming between November 1992 and March 1993. Chore. pic.twitter.com/DFtpunJY9h
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 4, 2023
29 - Chelsea have scored 29 goals in 29 Premier League games this season, only ever netting fewer at this stage of a league campaign twice before (23 in 1921-22 and 16 in 1923-24). Lacking. pic.twitter.com/4ny4Wgimlc
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 4, 2023
0-0 - Chelsea v Liverpool is only the third ever fixture between two English top-flight sides to finish goalless four times consecutively, after Everton against Liverpool (1974-1975) and Arsenal against QPR (1992-1994). Snoozefest. pic.twitter.com/zpVY9mA1B7
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 4, 2023
MATCH STATS
Possession: Chelsea 49%-51% Liverpool
Shots: Chelsea 12-7 Liverpool
Shots on target: Chelsea 3-4 Liverpool
Corners: Chelsea 3-5 Liverpool
Fouls: Chelsea 6-17 Liverpool
LINEUPS
CHELSEA (3-5-2): Kepa; Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella; James, Kante (Gallagher 70'), Fernandez, Kovacic, Chilwell (Mudryk 78'); Havertz, Felix (Sterling 85')
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson; Gomez, Matip, Konate, Tsimikas (Robertson 66'); Henderson, Fabinho, Jones (Milner 79'); Jota, Firmino (Salah 65'), Nunez (Gakpo 79')
Barney Corkhill
