Liverpool hijack Chelsea’s oxygen tanks but the Blues’ shortcut could have seen them ahead in the race for the title
After their Carabao cup meeting, Liverpool and Chelsea faced each other at Stamford Bridge in a more anticipated clash than the one on Wednesday. The open and intense cup meeting didn’t provide any indications to the League game as both Juergen Klopp and Maurizio Sarri confirmed that it would be a different game. The impressive start from both teams this season and Chelsea’s new mask of offensive football coupled with Liverpool’s electric style gave this blockbuster clash a new edge.
Both teams started in their usual 4–3–3 with no surprises in the lineups. A predictable pattern of the game would have been Chelsea maintaining possession trying to build up and taking control of the game with Jorginho, the supreme commander, the center of that. A total control that would neutralize Liverpool and put all their eggs in the offensive transitions basket, Klopp understood that and instructed his Liverpool players to press Chelsea to neutralize their build up. Chelsea’s build up has two versions, defence splitting with Jorginho dropping and a wide four line defence.
In the defence splitting situation Liverpool’s front three pressed Chelsea’s three man line, while Milner and Wijnaldum where in a starting position to press the full back and rest of midfield to shift markers if Chelsea decided to play the ball into the full back. Switching to the full back should be followed by movements from Chelsea’s nearest center back and Jorginho to give the full back good passing options, but the press from midfield and Liverpool’s front three denied that. Liverpool also applied a cover shadow when the ball was with Chelsea’s full back by positioning themselves between the ball and Chelsea’s players to further decrease his passing options. The situation was only made worse by Kepa’s positioning on the same vertical line as Jorginho, thus making it easier for Firmino to press the keeper and keep Jorginho in his cover shadow at the same time.
The second version of Chelsea’s build up was a wide four man defence with Jorginho in-front of them, here Liverpool’s front three pressed towards the position of the ball with Henderson in a starting position to pounce on Jorginho if he’s fed the ball. the free full back was always pressed by the nearest midfielder with the rest of Liverpool’s midfielders shifting markers. In this version, Jorginho could have been free once the ball reached the full back but Mane and Firmino had only one thing on their mind once the ball reached the full back, and that’s to cover Jorginho.
Liverpool’s perfect pressing scheme and their defenders’ positioning to keep vertical compactness gave them their earliest chance in the game when Salah’s poor shot was straight at Kepa. In an aid to help Jorginho in the build up, Kovacic dropped nearer to the Brazilian in the second version of Chelsea’s build up but Wijnaldum moved up the pitch to continue tracking his marker.
Chelsea’s inability to build up meant that they were no longer threatening from their left side, and retreated to the unfavorable option of long balls which were mostly won by Liverpool defenders. One long ball though from David Luiz found his Brazilian compatriot Willian, putting him in a 1v1 situation but Alisson’s fast anticipation to close down Willian denied Chelsea from opening the lead.
Liverpool’s DDoS attacks gave them more time on the ball, and contrary to their usual style of thriving in chaos on offensive transitions they circulated the ball backwards to build a steady attack. Klopp targeted the inside right channel not only for Salah’s goal scoring ability but also because of Hazard’s positioning in the defensive phase and Kovacic’s tendency to press higher. Direct passes towards the inside right channel gave Liverpool an easier option for ball progression and put them in a more dangerous situation, as the pass takes out both Kovacic and Hazard out of the game. Liverpool kept searching for the pass towards Salah who positioned in that space and the Egyptian was close to open scoring after a dummy run from Firmino to occupy Luiz, but his wayward shot was no where near the goal. Firmino switched with Salah regularly to disrupt the Chelsea defence, and a ball from Milner into Salah fell to the Brazilian in the right channel but was block by David Luiz.
Jorginho’s qualities to orchestrate and control the game under pressure is Sarri’s golden egg, and that was quite evident in how Liverpool tried to deny the Brazilian possession of the ball. In a transition phase when Liverpool’s pressing system was out of shape, the ball fell to Hazard whose flick found Kovacic, who then combined with Jorginho in a tight area, to finally put Hazard through on goal to open the scoring. A goal which embodies Sarri’s style, quick combinations passes between Kovacic and Jorginho, line splitting pass from Kovacic, and a third man run from Hazard.
Liverpool’s press gave Salah another chance to score, but Ruediger’s goal line clearance kept the score at 1–0. In the second half Chelsea were more aware of Liverpool’s balls into the right channel and David Luiz reacted first to balls into this space. Regaining possession faster gave Chelsea the opportunity to counter attack, and a quick free kick after Luiz intercepted a pass into Salah put Hazard through. A goal would have meant that at 2–0 Liverpool should seek a new plan to exploit Chelsea’s resilient defence in the 2nd half, Hazard uncharacteristically missed though keeping the score at 1–0.
Klopp realized that the inside right space was no longer accessible as Luiz anticipated the balls and Kovacic dropped deeper to keep Chelsea’s left side more compact. The German decided to switch to the other flank, focusing on progression through the left wing. With Mane occupying Ruediger in the left channel, Azpilicueta was left against the pace of Andy Robertson as Kante was more positioned in the central area, and Willian weirdly didn’t track his full back. James Milner covered Robertson’s bursts into attack while regularly feeding balls towards the Scottish speedster. The left sided threat resulted into a chance for Mane which was brilliantly saved by Kepa, then a quick switch of play from the right side found Milner free on the left wing, the Englishman selflessly put Firmino through but David Luiz’s goal line clearance denied Liverpool the equalizer.
Van Dijk kept feeding balls into Robertson who was now more of a left winger, Robertson found Shaqiri with a brilliant curler but Shaqiri missed the target. Alert to the left sided threat Sarri substituted Willian with Moses, a more defensive option on the right side. Liverpool’s threat was neutralized, and in search of the draw to avoid their first loss Klopp brought on Sturridge and switched to a 4–2–4. It was a moment of brilliance that saved Liverpool rather than a tactical switch, Sturridge exquisitely placed shot went past Kepa for the game to end at 1–1.
Jorginho’s record breaking 180 passes against West Ham reflects Chelsea’s style of play, regularly out-passing their oppositions in the league by an average of 457 passes. On Saturday the passing stats read Liverpool 616, Chelsea 559. Klopp hijacked Chelsea’s oxygen tanks and used them for his own purposes, playing a possession game rather than excelling on offensive transitions. Despite that, Chelsea were close to win the game and the execution of chances was what separated both sides up till Sturridge’s equalizer.
It’s early in the season to see whether Sarri will introduce more flexible ideas with Chelsea providing more options than his Napoli side. Chelsea’s fortunes could have been different if their attackers finished their chances against West Ham and on Saturday, but how they reacted to Liverpool’s denial of possession is a new problem for Sarri to tackle. Klopp on the other hand is thriving on options from the bench, something Liverpool lacked last year. Good performances from Sturridge and Shaqiri during their short time on the pitch can see them start games as the fab front three are yet to tick this season. Liverpool’s impressive season continues and up next a trip to the Etihad to face Pep Guardiola’s City in a chance to clinch first spot.
