A step forward for the Reds as the league losing streak was halted, but in truth it was far from a sufficient improvement as Liverpool drew 0-0 with Chelsea.
Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea
Premier League (19), Anfield
Saturday, January 21, 2023
Alisson Becker – 8 (out of 10)
Made a brilliant save on his line to beat off Badiashil, and was very authoritative in the air after the visitors threatened the first few times from standard draws.
Quickly from his line, did what he needed.
His first clean sheet in the league since October against West Ham, 10 games ago.
James Milner — 6
The canopy was, to put it mildly, questionable, but he proved himself well defensively in the few one-on-one outs that he had in the first half.
Participated in a good build-up game on the right and tried to block Salah when it was possible.
As soon as Mudrik entered the field, there was a clear problem with speed, and he took the early warning as a welcome to the Premier League. It got away with it a bit as the Ukrainian had two chances after the overhangs before Milli was substituted.
Ibrahima Konate – 8
Basically coped well with Havertz in the first half and played well in defense.
Constantly able to make important and necessary interceptions and generally show well.
From time to time, he followed Havertz into midfield and gave away several fouls to ensure that there would be no running around behind him.
Joe Gomez — 8 — Best player of the match
He handled the ball a little loosely and carelessly at the beginning, like some of his teammates, and committed several unnecessary fouls that put pressure on the Reds.
But he also quickly regained his position, confidently stayed in the air, and the second half quickly came out from under the protection and continued to put pressure on Chelsea.
Defended well twice from Gallagher in the penalty area and went on one Matip-style adventure before blocking a vital shot from Ziesh. Now he needs consistency.
Andy Robertson – 8
The only real outlet in the first half with his surging runs down the flank.
It was good, because he played at speed and made some good exchanges for open space, but also bad, because his last pass missed or went the wrong way every time, although he also almost scored.
A great battle with Zich throughout the game and a decisive late block on Chukwuemek.
Stefan Bajcetic – 8
He definitely deserved to stay on the sidelines and was a strong player at the heart of the midfield, winning several selections, but, more importantly, he quickly took good positions when the Reds lost possession of the ball, and handled the ball skillfully himself.
Several body movements stylishly took opponents out of the way, and he was also useful in the air on both halves of the field.
Nabi Keita – 7
He started the season in the first league and played pretty well — not too dramatic with the ball and sloppy with a lot of passes, but diligent with his positional play, hardworking in channels and one or two moments when he forced the situation in attack. .
Never a game that should have won the match, but most importantly, given the midfield problems this season, and also not a game to lose.
Thiago Alcantara – 8
At the same time, the best midfielder on the field and the riskiest. A few great changes of direction in the game and always our main guide through the center, but we played too many dangerous balls that were intercepted.
It’s a very dynamic game and it was nice to see some real pressure created by a midfield that works better without the ball and Thiago plays a key role in that.
Mohamed Salah — 6
It was really quiet for most of the first half, as we didn’t really attract him, but then we had two great moments: an air strike and a curler many miles away.
Was more involved in the second half of our game and had a couple of other discoveries, but it was far from vintage Mo; why can’t he beat a man anymore?!
Cody Gakpo — 6
He was quiet at first, but became much more involved after he went to wander in deeper areas.
The most enjoyable moments were a few wins in the air to keep the movement going, and a few clever moments in the bunch, but he also earned himself a throw after pressing and a tackle outside the Chelsea penalty area.
The biggest threat at the gate, but not constant and not clinical – random shootings.
Harvey Elliott – 6
The winner in the middle of the week was enough for him to get a starting place here, this time playing on the left flank. Sent one good cross, but otherwise it was more to do with short passes and hard work to hold the position.
I went to the center of midfield for the last half hour, and the team game really suffered.
Substitutes
Darwin Nunez (came out instead of Keita, 61′) – 7 – Brought energy and a few moments, but not skill.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (out instead of Milner, 71′) – 6 – Drew a good moment over the crossbar.
Jordan Henderson (came out instead of Elliott, 81′) – n/a – One good shot on the right flank, but not the best ball.
Curtis Jones (came out instead of Gakpo, 81′) – n/a – A couple of runs, counted for a foul after a foul on him was not given on the edge of the penalty area.
Fabinho (came out instead of Baisetic, 81′) – n/a – We almost lost the game due to an inaccurate pass from outside the penalty area.
Unused substitutes: Kelleher, Matip, Tsimikas, Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Jurgen Klopp – 7
His 1000th game as a manager and probably getting into the top ten most disappointing.
It was high time for the boss to eliminate the players who were lagging behind, and this time he did it — Hendo, Matip, Trent and Fabinho are among those who did not return to the XI.
The reward was a much more stable game without possession of the ball, a team that looked more cohesive in defense, although not at full speed on the ball.
As for the replacements, they probably came on time, although it didn’t work out to leave Elliot in the middle.
The ending of the match was completely disorderly, without any control from either side, as a result of which the boss mostly swore at the referees for not giving a throw-in to the “reds”.
In general, he made the right decisions, but the quality was not enough to score points.
