Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images

A look back at the key moments in Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea in Premier League

Chelsea 1 - 1 Liverpool

Chelsea: Disasi 37’
Liverpool: Diaz 18’’

Pre-Match

It’s not that any Chelsea vs Liverpool match needs extra hype, but this one certainly has it. The two clubs have been locked in a fierce battle off the pitch over the signing of Moises Caicedo, which is still not settled. These teams have never been friendly with each other, but this event certainly ticks up the anger.

There is a match to be played! Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai are making their debuts and Liverpool have a very attacking lineup. Let’s see how that goes.

First Half

If you woke up from a coma and watched that first half, there’s no way you’d reach the conclusion that this was both teams’ first match of the season. It’s absolutely frantic with 4 goals being scored, with only two of them actually counting. Liverpool opened the scoring with a lovely pass from Mo Salah to Luis Diaz. A few minutes later Salah makes it 2-0, but is a fraction offside and VAR won’t be allowing that.

At the other end, Chelsea came into their own during the first half. They scored their first Axel Disasi scored on his Chelsea debut through a reworked corner. Ben Chilwell had thought he gave Chelsea the leave but he was a fraction offside, just as Salah was.

Second Half

The second half started nearly as frantic as the first with both Chelsea and Liverpool having a plethora of chances in the opening 15 minutes. Liverpool have claims of a penalty when Nicolas Jackson’s arm gets in the way of a Diaz header on a corner kick, but the VAR isn’t having it.

Things sort of flattened out during the second part of the second half, with both teams running out of steam. Salah was subbed off in the 75th minute and threw a bit of a fit. There’s a mad dash at both ends in stoppage time but nothing results in a winner for either team.

Final Thoughts

I suppose a draw isn’t the worst thing heading into this match, but it does really feel like a dud with the way things started for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp started off the match with four forwards and you have to think that’s because he isn’t totally satisfied with his options in midfield. If anything, that match shows that Liverpool still have some work to do before the transfer window closes.