The match turned on 44 minutes after a struggling Liverpool – having gone one down after a rather flukey header from Kai Havertz from a Rees James corner – got a break when a scramble in the Chelsea area ended with Sadio Mané poking the ball towards the goal only for it to bounce up off James’ knee and hit his arm.
What did for James was the reflex movement of his hand towards the ball and once referee Anthony Taylor determined that it was a handball, he had no choice but to add insult to injury and send off the unfortunate Chelsea wing-back for denying a goal scoring opportunity. There was understandable uproar from the Chelsea players – both Mendy and Antonio Rudiger were shown yellows for their protests – but both decisions, the penalty and the sending off, were correct.
Mo Salah duly stepped up to the spot and sent Mendy the wrong way and Liverpool went into the break not only level – when Chelsea could easily have gone in two up, Mason Mount having missed a good chance to add to the Blues’ tally – but looking forward to the second half.
But Chelsea held firm and created one or two chances themselves to win the game.
Disappointing performances from a Liverpool perspective from the returning Andy Robertson at left-back, ousting Kostas Tsimikas, and Mané who showed poor quality on a number of occasions as he reached the area, running into Chelsea defenders, making the wrong choices with his passes and giving away unnecessary fouls, and he surely would have made way for Diogo Jota, who had lost his place in the starting lineup to Roberto Firmino, had not the Brazilian, who had played superbly, had to come off after 40 minutes with a hamstring injury.
Jordan Henderson’s first half performance was poor – his lack of technique was exposed when he latched on to a brilliant floating pass from Trent Alexander Arnold only to direct his half-hearted volley way off target – and even if he played better in the second half, doing what he does best – picking up the ball from an Allison rollout and driving into the opposition half – he was given the hook after 74 minutes and Thiago Alcantara replaced him, to not much effect.
Overall, Chelsea looked the better team and it wouldn’t be much of a prediction to say they would have gone on to win the game with 11 against 11, which will be a cause for concern for Liverpool. They will have to significantly improve if they are to sustain a challenge to Chelsea and Manchester City for the league title.
Eighteen-year-old Harvey Elliot played well on the right side of the Liverpool midfield and even had a couple of good chances to score but it’s hard to believe he’s ready at this level of football to make the difference consistently.
It says something about Jurgen Klopp’s thinking that he preferred to start Elliot over much more experienced players, like Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. With three days left in the transfer window, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Liverpool go into the market – so far they’ve only managed to add centre-half Ibrahim Konate to the squad – to bring in a midfield player.
Firmino’s injury also suggests that Liverpool are a player short up front. If Klopp had wanted to change things in the second half or if Salah, Mané or Jota had had to come off, his only choice would have been to bring on Taki Minamino or Divock Origi, both of whom struggled last year to show their worth to the team.
