Match Report :
Full-Time
Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool
Manchester City remained on top after Chelsea and Liverpool remained deadlocked after a tense 90 minutes, with all the four goals coming in the first half and will go back home with a point each.
90+4' Liverpool tries to pres high with Henderson trying to put the ball into the box butr ends up awarding a goal kick as Tuchel continues to indicate more attack for the Blues
90+1' Tsimikas makes a run along the right, dribbles across Mount, but his cross is cleared by Silva for a Liverpool corner
89' Alonso's corner kick cleared by Konate and now Liverpool is ready to bring fresh legs on. Curtis Jones replaces Sadio Mane late in the second half
88' Another wave of counter attack from Chelsea with Pulisic running up-front, but his cross is cleared by Alexander-Arnold. Eventually, Azpilicueta passes the ball to Mount, whose shot is played out for a corner
86' It is just Chelsea toying with the Liverpool defence, with Pulisic and Kante in the box and teh ball goes back to Rudiger and then to Odoi and finally the ball goes out for a corner
84' Hudson-Odoi tries to make a run this time and Konate brings him down, getting into the book with the challenge. The free-kick that follows has Kelleher clung to the ball comfortably
82' Save! Mason Mount takes the free kick, which ricochets from the wall and his second shot is then saved by Kelleher
81' Foul! Kovacic tries to go through a Red wall and Keita's challenge brings him down, rewarding free-kick from a scoring position
79' Substitution for Chelsea! Calum Hudson-Odoi is subbed on to replace Kai Havertz, who walks off the other end of the pitch
77' Havertz had his arm raised as Konate and the German chase the ball and Konate gets injury, going down with a painful shout. After a check, no further development happened about it and the defender was assisted by the LFC medical team
76' Tsimikas crosses the ball into the Chelsea bos, which is headed away, only far enough for Salah to get back the ball and he passes it to Keita
75' Chelsea has drawn two of its last home games against Everton and Brighton and the Blues will hope to walk away with three points tonight
74' Fabinho and Chamberlain pair up on the right of the box, but Chelsea has the gaps well clogged as the Reds are forced to play back passes
72' Shot! Pulisic takes another shot from outside the box as Liverpool close in spaces in the box, but the ball flies well off-target
69' Double substitution for Liverpool! Diogo Jota is replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner is replaced by Naby Keita
Substitution for Chelsea as well! Chalobah is replaced by Jorginho
68' Chelsea dominating the attack as it looks for an opening in the opposition half and Alonso crosses one in from the left, which is cleared away
66' Shot! Liverpool takes the corner kick, with the ball delivered to Tsimikas outside the box by Salah, and his shot whizzes off target
62' Save! Pulisic's half-volley was saved by the Liverpool goalie as the goalkeepers take centre stage in this tight contest
61' Chelsea attacks like a pack of wolves with every clearance met by a blue shirt and finally Van Dijk clears it out, and then a cross my Mount is caught by Kelleher to put Chelsea's attack to bed
58' ANOTHER SAVE! Sadio Mane makes a wonderful run with one-two with Salah, he glides past Silva and shoots which is saved by Mendy yet again
57' WHAT A SAVE! Liverpool attacks on the break yet against after a clearance from an Alonso corner jand the Egyptiangoes for goal from the distance, but Mendy somehow gets a touch which keeps the ball out of the net
54' Liverpool tries to attack on the break as Salah chases the ball, but Kante's sprint beats him as the French midfielder gets to the ball first and passes it back to Mendy comfortably
52' Off-side! Fabinho gives a gorgeous through pass for Jota, who shoots in his first touch and Mendy makes a brilliant save. However, the goal, if happened, would have been ruled an off-side
51' Kante makes a run along the midfield and passes it for Alonso, who carries the ball to the final third and shoots in between the Liverpool defenders. But the ball is way off target
50' Alexander-Arnold spots Salah and his long ball is beautifully received by Salah, but Rudiger was having none of it as the bal is cleared out
48' Chelsea has the ball at the moment, with Kante trying to release Pulisic and it is dispossessed of the ball as Liverpool try to to find a gap in the Blue defence, which looks much stronger than that in the first half
46' Off-side! Tsimikas plays in the ball for Mane, who tries to chip the ball on the right of the keeper, but the linesmen raise the flag for an off-side
Second Half Begins!
Half-Time
Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool
45+4' Liverpool tries to push the ball up the pitch, but Rudiger and Alonso make sure the scores remain level in the dying second of the first half
45+3' Chance! Havertz makes another run for Chelsea, but his shot lacked force as he misses the target, with the ball going past the goal
45+1' GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!Chelsea marches on the counter attack and Kante passes it to Pulisic who makes a sublime finish to make it 2-2 at the brink of Half-Time
Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool
42' GOOOOAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!! Kovacic scores from outside the box after an initial clearance from a set piece to score one back for Chelsea
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
41' Foul! Havertz tries to makes a run along the right and as he tries to cut in left, Milner makes a late challenge and the referee gives a free kick to Chelsea
40' Havertz brings down LFC's big man Virgil Van Dijk, but no cards involved as play goes on
38' Liverpool looks in complete control now as the Reds' fans sing and cheer inside Stamford Bridge in a match that has the team's manager and three of its key players out with COVID-19
36' Block! Salah is released close to the box and the Egyptian makes a run, but just as he was about to take a shot, Chalobah clears the ball away. Salah goes for it the second time and silva clears it away for a corner
35' The match looks to be slowing down a bit now with Liverpool enjoying a comprehensive lead as the debate on Lukaku's exclusion heats up among the Chelsea fans
32' No red card! Mason Mount brings down Tsimikas and the referee cheks with VAR for a potential red card and after the check, Mount is released scott-free from any shackles of ruminations on the foul
30' Liverpool tries another attack with long balls as Salah chases, until Mendy gets to the ball first, getting it back into Chelsea's control soon enough
26' GOAAALLLLL!!!!!! Salah cuts into the box from the right and flicks the ball into the net to double the lead for Liverpool
Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool
25' Liverpool's corner is taken quickly as Milner passes it to Alexander-Arnold, who crosses it for Van Dijk, but Azpilicueta blocks it for another corner. Thic corner has Arnold putting the ball in front of Mendy, who clears it away
22' Off-side! Salah gets the ball in the final third and makes a solo run and then shoots, but fails to beat the goalkeeper Mendy. However, the linesmen have the flag raised and it would have been off-side anyway
21' Liverpool tries to build an attack, with Jota and Alexander-Arnold pairing up close to the final third, only to see the ball cleared away by Alonso
19' Shot! Alonso gets a long ball from Mount and tries to hit on the volley, but the ball flies wide off goal
17' Foul! Diogo Jota is brought down by Pulisic after a rash tackle, and the Liverpool camp is absolutely furious. The referee after a small chat, warns him with a yellow card to end all arguments
15' Chelsea is dominating possession at the moment, with 67 percent, and as it marches forward for an attack, Konate clears the ball away, out of danger
13' Fabinho brings Alonso down as Liverpool tries to maintain its slender lead with a Mane goal, which came from a player, who got booked in the quickest time since Opta started calculating match stats.
9' GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Mane gets the ball close to the box with a long ball, controls the ball down and finishes in style to put the Reds in front
Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool
7' Chance! Pulisic was released into the box with an aerial ball, but as the American tries to play the ball out, Kelleher's touch just puts the ball away from Pulisic. End-to-end stuff from Chelsea and Liverpool this
6' Save! A kick from Kelleher is received by Mane, who passes it for Salah, who shoots rightaway as Mendy thumps the ball away from goal
4' Liverpool's full-backs are busy making forward runs as expected, but Chelsea looks to be trying to draw the Blues out to attack on the counter
3' Chelsea tries to press high up the pitch, with passes through channels, but Van Dijk, returning after a COVID case, is back to fortify the Reds
1' Yellow Card! Mane's elbow on Azpilicueta is penalized right away with a booking in the opening minute
10:00 pm: Kick off!
9:57 pm: The players are out on the field, with both sides in their home kits of signature red and blue for Liverpool and Chelsea and we are ready to go live.
9:45 pm: Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount has been involved in 12 Premier League goals this season -- the most of any English player in the competition, and his joint-best return in a single Premier League campaign (also 12 in 2019/20).
9:25 pm: Liverpool's Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip have been ruled out of the Premier League trip to Chelsea after returning positive tests for COVID-19.
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9:15 pm: If Liverpool wins today, it can become only the second team in Premier League history to win three successive trips to Chelsea, after Blackburn Rovers between 1993/94 and 1995/96.
9:00 pm: Confirmed Line-ups:
Chelsea Starting XI: Mendy (GK), Chalobah, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, Azpilicueta, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso, Mount, Havert, Pulisic
Liverpool Starting XI: Kelleher (GK), Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Fabinho, Henderson, Milner, Mane, Salah, Jota
8:55 pm: Chelsea hasn’t won its opening league match in any of the last five calendar years since beating Crystal Palace 3-0 in 2016. Only once has it had a longer run of winless such matches in their league history (10 between 1929 and 1938).
Match Preview
Chelsea has to be realistic about catching up with Premier League leader Manchester City this season, manager Thomas Tuchel said, adding that the club's personnel issues have contributed to their dip in form.
City is 11 points clear of Chelsea after winning it's last 11 league games in a row and is aiming to win it's fourth title under manager Pep Guardiola.
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"It is a winning machine. It is not only about having an advantage, it is making it an advantage. They are very good, they are relentless," Tuchel said of City.
"They know what it takes to produce these high-point seasons over and over again. We will never stop believing or pushing but we have to be realistic."
"When you look at 2021 (last season's league table), we are 20 points behind. You have to be careful that you are ambitious but not over-ambitious and do not to get frustrated by not catching Man City in the first half year."
Chelsea has one win in it's last four league games and hosts third-placed Liverpool on Sunday. It will take on City in the Premier League on January 15 before facing Tottenham Hotspur at home a week later.
Tuchel's side has lost defender Ben Chilwell to a long-term knee injury and has had Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and others sidelined by injuries and COVID-19.
"Maybe it's a longer race than one season to catch Man City because they will not stop improving. But the huge difference at this moment is with injuries and COVID.
"I am absolutely convinced that if we are in the same place without having key players out for weeks we (would have) more points and be in the back of them.
"That's why there's no need to get negative, no need to lose faith. The opposite -- we will stay hungry. We will not stop trying."
(via Reuters )
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