Chelsea left Anfield with a 1-1 draw after recovering from an early deficit but will rue a missed chance to claim all three points. Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s free-kick cross sneaked inside the bottom corner for the equaliser, a strike described in the match as fortunate but earned by Chelsea\u2019s growing control of the first half. Cole Palmer had what might have been a winner shortly after the restart, only for the effort to be ruled out by a narrow offside.<\/p>\n
The result offered little clarity for either side\u2019s Champions League ambitions. Chelsea\u2019s bid is not quite over, and Liverpool\u2019s remains unsealed.<\/p>\n
The Blues\u2019 recurring vulnerability to early goals remains a clear problem. After shipping the first of three Nottingham Forest goals after 83 seconds on Monday afternoon, Jo\u00e3o Pedro lamented a common theme for Chelsea. \u201cThis is the Premier League,\u201d he fretted, \u201cif you concede very early, it\u2019s difficult to come back. Everyone needs to look at themselves, me included, to find a way to do better. I feel sorry for the fans.\u201d That pattern continued at Anfield when Ryan Gravenberch needed six minutes to bend the ball beyond Filip J\u00f6rgensen following a second-phase set piece. It was the ninth goal Chelsea have conceded in the opening 10 minutes of Premier League matches this season, a tally only surpassed by relegated and manager-less Burnley.<\/p>\n
Chelsea responded well after the early setback and forced Liverpool into a more cautious shape, allowing the visitors to exert authority on the match. Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s equaliser could have proved decisive had the opening moments not again worked against Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Player ratings
\nGK: Filip J\u00f6rgensen \u2014 6.6. Might have reached Gravenberch\u2019s strike but produced several important saves thereafter.
\nRB: Malo Gusto \u2014 6.7. A lively contest with Rio Ngumoha, trading small victories.
\nCB: Wesley Fofana \u2014 6.8. Limited impact; a missed aerial challenge at the goal from Fern\u00e1ndez\u2019s cross was telling.
\nCB: Levi Colwill \u2014 7.3. First Premier League start of the season following a torn ACL; a solid return despite expected rust.
\nLB: Jorrel Hato \u2014 7.2. Largely untroubled by Jeremie Frimpong.
\nCM: Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez \u2014 7.0. Roamed freely across midfield and found the equaliser.
\nCM: Mois\u00e9s Caicedo \u2014 7.8. Defensive linchpin, often operating as a fifth defender and covering all thirds.
\nCM: Andrey Santos \u2014 6.4. Frequently a stride behind his marker.
\nRW: Cole Palmer \u2014 6.6. Threatened but lacked decisive end product.
\nST: Jo\u00e3o Pedro \u2014 6.9. Created space and openings, the sharpest of Chelsea\u2019s attackers.
\nLW: Marc Cucurella \u2014 6.6. Adapted well when pushed higher amid an injury crisis.
\nSUB: Reece James (63\u2019 for Santos) \u2014 7.1. Failed to make a lasting imprint.<\/p>\n
Unused subs: Gaga Slonina, Josh Acheampong, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Mathis Ebou\u00e9, Rom\u00e9o Lavia, Liam Delap, Ryan Kavuma-McQueen.<\/p>\n
Match statistics
\nPossession: Liverpool 48% | Chelsea 52%
\nExpected Goals (xG): Liverpool 0.51 | Chelsea 0.47
\nTotal Shots: Liverpool 8 | Chelsea 6
\nShots on Target: Liverpool 3 | Chelsea 3
\nBig Chances: Liverpool 1 | Chelsea 1
\nPassing Accuracy: Liverpool 84% | Chelsea 86%
\nFouls Committed: Liverpool 2 | Chelsea 4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chelsea drew 1-1 at Anfield as Enzo Fern\u00e1ndez’s fortunate equaliser followed an early concession….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13707,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,969],"tags":[1073,944,1140],"class_list":["post-13708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-premier-league","tag-acl-injury","tag-andrey-santos","tag-caicedo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}