Chelsea star-studded in front of Liverpool. However, minimal preparation plus a series of mistakes including Kepa Arrizabalaga’s mistake caused Chelsea to collapse in front of the Reds in an English league match at Anfield.
Chelsea’s duel against Liverpool in the first half was not interesting. Liverpool didn’t land a shot on target. Meanwhile Chelsea also lacked opportunities and only landed one harmless shot on target.
But the important moment in this match occurred at the end of the first half. Jordan Henderson’s foresight in seeing the gap between Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma had make change.
Sadio Mane who runs after the ball is dropped by Christensen. After seeing VAR, referee Paul Tierney decided to give Christensen a straight red card.
Christensen’s decision was too hasty. With the game system now implementing VAR, the risk of red cards is certainly greater in one-on-one duels at the mouth of the goal because the referee can take the time to monitor the situation in more detail.
The superiority of the players Liverpool then tried to maximize from the start of the second half. Frank Lampard tried to respond to the situation by replacing Kai Havertz in order to enter Fikayo Tomori. This was done in order to fill the center-back position.
Jurgen Klopp also responded to the situation by giving a debut to Thiago Alcantara. Klopp seemed to believe that the advantage of the number of players allowed Liverpool to make a gamble by lowering Thiago, who had not trained much together.
The Reds immediately explored the advantage of the number of players through ball possession and more intense pressure. Liverpool did not take long to excel.
In the 50th minute, Sadio Mane successfully found Kepa Arrizabalaga’s goal. In the process of this first goal, Liverpool showed the cooperation of Mohamed Salah-Roberto Firmino-Sadio Mane, who became Liverpool’s main strength in the last few seasons.
Salah’s pass to Firmino was continued as a cross bait towards Sadio Mane who immediately headed the ball into the goal.
Not having had time for Chelsea to think about how to attack with a lack of players, Kepa Arrizabalaga has already given Chelsea another disaster.
When Kepa had the ball, he remained calm when Sadio Mane caught him. Kepa kicks and the ball hits Sadio Mane. The ball rolled in front of the goal and was easily turned into a goal by Mane.
Once under Liverpool’s possession, Chelsea had a chance to get a breath of fresh air in the 75th minute. Timo Werner’s persistence resulted in a penalty in this match.
Jorginho, who has had very good penalty accuracy, came back as the executioner. But this time Jorginho’s penalty was well dammed by Alisson Becker.
Jorginho’s missed penalty moment also ended Chelsea’s resistance in the match against Liverpool. They no longer have a good chance for the rest of the match.
A little luck for Chelsea, Liverpool didn’t really put maximum pressure on at the end of the game. The Reds seemed quite satisfied with the 2-0 advantage in hand.
Facing a team like Liverpool, it is impossible for Chelsea to win if they make three consecutive mistakes, namely a red card, Kepa mistake, and Jorginho’s penalty failure.
The fact that Chelsea’s back line was the worst sector last season cannot be covered up again in this match. Frank Lampard must be able to find a solution to this problem, including if he requires the purchase of a new goalkeeper to replace Kepa under the goal. The name Eduoard Mendy is a strong candidate to replace the current Kepa.
Despite the urgency of changing goalkeepers, the arrival of a star player has clearly given Lampard a headache. He needs time to be able to make new players like Kai Havertz and Timo Werner synergize with the existing system at Chelsea. In the match against Liverpool, Havertz couldn’t do much and only appeared in the first half.
Meanwhile, Timo Werner at least still deserves praise for appearing insistent and trying hard to dismantle Liverpool’s defense in the midst of a lack of ball supply from midfield.
In the next match, Lampard might also bring down other new names such as Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Hakim Ziyech. The League Cup tie against Barnsley could be a test of the formation that Lampard wants before returning to battle in the Premier League against West Bromwich Albion in the coming week.
