Jacob Steinberg’s match report
That’s me done. I’ll leave you with Jacob Steinberg’s match report from Stamford Bridge. A pretty miserable night for both teams, for different reasons. Thanks for all your emails and tweets. Cheers!
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Bournemouth 0-2 Brighton: read Ed Aarons's match report
Meanwhile in Italy tonight, Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku scored a late equaliser for Inter at Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-final. It finished 1-1 there after the first leg.
Jordan Henderson has come out to talk on Liverpool’s performance:
Both sides are not at the highest level of confidence at the moment but we made a fight of it. We lacked a bit of quality in the final third, but overall we take the point and move on.
The reaction [from the weekend’s defeat to City] was positive. A clean sheet away at Chelsea is never easy. It hasn’t been brilliant this season, but we’re going to keep fighting until the end of it.
Leeds 2-1 Nottingham Forest: read Louise Taylor's match report
Kai Havertz comes out and faces the cameras. Fair play.
In the first half we deserved to score. We missed a bit of confidence but we are all professionals and it’s our job to score.
It’s tough when a manager leaves the club. It’s our job to win games. We have to take responsibility for that. It’s not nice.
When you have a manager term, it’s easier. But you have to respect the job that Bruno [Saltor] is doing. Chelsea doesn’t deserve to be 11th or 10th. We all have to stick together. We’re also in the quarter-final of the Champions League. We need the fans.
For those interested in xG.
Chelsea’s was 2.12.
Liverpool’s was 0.35.
Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa: read Ben Fisher’s match report
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The first two thirds of that game was open, exciting and fiery. The last half an hour, or so, was pretty woeful. No creativity, no quality in the final third.
Full-time: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
And that’s that. Two goals disallowed for Chelsea, who also displayed some pretty woeful finishing. Not a great result for either team, but Liverpool will be the happier.
90+5 min: Enzo Fernández, probably Chelsea’s best player on the night, finds some space 25 yards from goal, but thumps the ball a few yards over the bar. Close-ish, but Alisson was not particularly worried.
90+4 min: Conor Gallagher at right wing for Chelsea. Industrious, sure, but no end product. A penny for the thoughts of Mount, Madueke and Pulisic. The game, meanwhile, is petering out.
90+2 min: This will definitely feel like two points dropped for Chelsea. The story of their season.
90 min: Salah has barely had a kick since coming on. Five minutes added on for injury time.
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88 min: This game could go either way. Or no way. At least Sterling has brought some urgency to proceedings, demanding the ball.
86 min: Full-time results in the three other Premier League fixtures tonight. Some crucial results at the bottom of the table.
Bournemouth 0-2 Brighton
Leeds 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Leicester 1-2 Aston Villa
Here’s how it looks at the bottom.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Everton | 29 | -18 | 27 |
| 17 | Nottm Forest | 29 | -28 | 27 |
| 18 | AFC Bournemouth | 29 | -30 | 27 |
| 19 | Leicester | 29 | -11 | 25 |
| 20 | Southampton | 29 | -24 | 23 |
Meanwhile, in Germany (courtesy of a Kári Tulinius email).
“Tonight’s biggest football news is surely Freiburg dumping Bayern out of the German Cup. The Bavarians conceded a last minute penalty, which Höler converted with confidence, making it 2-1 to the Breisgau Brazilians. Tuchel not having all his way in his new job.”
84 min: Sterling comes on against his former side. Félix off.
82 min: Mudryk and Kovacic combine down the left and the latter flashes a cross across goal, but nobody is home. The sort of cross Lukaku would make his own.
80 min: Mudryk is a problem, the geezer has electric pace, and wins a corner from Fofana when he was second favourite to do so.
78 min: More changes, for both sides.
Mudryk comes on for Chelsea on the left wing. Meanwhile, Milner comes on for Liverpool in place of Jones, while Gakpo replaces Nunez. Like for like subs.
76 min: Another chance for Chelsea, spurned. A hopeful ball is lifted into Liverpool’s box, Matip can only head it down to a blue shirt, and Félix thrashes a shot well over the bar. Was a nice height, but the Portuguese was leaning back. Arsenal play Liverpool on Sunday. They will not be this profligate.
74 min: The fluency has gone from the game, slightly. Fabinho is booked for tugging down Félix in midfield. Was clumsy rather than cynical.
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72 min: Chelsea fans are audibly voicing their frustrations to Havertz, who is caught offside when he might have done better.
70 min: Twenty minutes for someone to find a winner. Liverpool get a corner, but it’s well cleared by Koulibaly.
68 min: Kanté, Chelsea’s captain today, goes off to a standing ovation. Conor Gallagher replaces him, with Kovacic assuming the armband. Kanté has played four Chelsea games this season, under three different managers.
66 min: This is an enthralling 0-0, but the last few mins have been the first lull. The subs and the bookings haven’t helped, and here comes another one: Kovacic gets a yellow for handballing the ball after slipping in midfield.
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64 min: Liverpool make a double change: Firmino off for Salah. The Brazilian started well, but has faded. Robertson comes on for Tsimikas, who has just been booked.
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62 min: Jones is cautioned for some back chat towards the referee, Anthony Taylor. It’s deserved. I’ll also concede that I missed another booking: Tsimikas has picked up a yellow.
60 min: For all Chelsea’s pressure, Nunez is starting to look dangerous on Liverpool’s left wing. He’s their out ball, and it does appear to be working. Liverpool are still, just about, in this game.
58 min: “I am truly not trying to be snarky, but I don’t understand why the Guardian is doing a MBM on Chelsea-Liverpool, which really is a mid-table clash when there are three huge matches going on in one of the most absorbing relegation battles I can remember,” emails Alan Cooper. “I suggest you unilaterally decide to switch focus and concentrate on the other matches instead. I’ll make it right with your boss if necessary.”
56 min: Chelsea are dominant here. Félix in particular is flickering into life, popping up in the half spaces, drawing fouls. The Portuguese peels off at the back post, collects a Havertz cross, cuts inside but drags his shot wide.
53 min: Havertz’s non-goal there was very similar to the goal he did score in the Champions League final against City. Remember he went clear, bundled the finish against Ederson, but got lucky with the rebound, tucking it into an empty net. Not so lucky here.
🏆 Kai Havertz scored the only goal in Porto as Chelsea were crowned champions of Europe for the second time! 🥇#UCL | #SuperCup pic.twitter.com/eliYEbHoGI
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 9, 2021
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51 min: …
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GOAL DISALLOWED!
50 min: Chelsea have a second goal disallowed! Oh dear. Liverpool are all at sea at the back, and Havertz races clear once more but it’s a heavy touch and he’s stretching to apply the finish as Alisson advances out of his goal. Havertz lifts the ball, which strikes Alisson on the shoulder, rebounds back towards Havertz, hits the German and trickles into the net! Havertz wheels away but VAR rules it out. The ball clearly strikes Havertz’s arm as the last touch and that’s not allowed. It remains goalless.
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49 min: This is the fewest goals Chelsea have scored in the league (after 28 games) in 99 years.
48 min: Huge chance for Chelsea. Kanté and Havertz combine clumsily, but the ball falls nicely for Kovacic, who races clear of Liverpool’s defence and then bins the ball in Row Z when one on one with Alisson! Ooooohhh, what a chance. Chelsea have created enough opportunities to score three of four, but they can’t get it going in the final third.
46 min: Yellow card for Matip, our first booking of the game. The defender came through the back of Félix.
Peeeeeep! We’re underway again at the Bridge.
@michaelbutler18 As a Chelsea I'm gutted about Potter leaving. I feel like he must be equally gutted seeing Kantè starting with Chilwell and James. I'm fairly sure he never had those players available to start together, and they make a massive difference.
— Brendan Large (@brendanlarge) April 4, 2023
Seconded. I reckon Potter is watching this like a spurned lover pouring over his ex’s Instagram page.
Half-time reading
Half-time: Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool
That’s over seven hours of football between these two without a goal. The last three meetings, including FA Cup and Carabao Cup games, have all ended 0-0.
45+3 min: Two great blocks from Fofana, the latter to deny Fabinho from a Liverpool corner. The Brazilian collected a second ball and volleyed at goal, but Fofana stood tall and deflected the ball away with his head. Brave defending. Kepa also makes a good save from a fierce Gomez drive. Liverpool pushing for the opener here, Chelsea need the whistle.
45+1 min: Jota gets his first chance of the evening, darting onto a through ball. Instead of hit it on his left, he checks back and Cucurella makes a crucial tackle. Jota looks to the sky in despair. That was a chance.
45 min: Three minutes added on here.
44 min: Havertz, Kanté and James combine brilliantly down Chelsea’s right, with the latter curling a low cross to the six-yard box. Matip slips and Félix has an opportunity to stab a finish home, but the Portuguese forward can’t sort his feet out and he misses it entirely. A poor finish to a great move!
42 min: Liverpool are really growing into this game. Chelsea need half-time to regroup.
40 min: Nunez and Fofana are having a proper ding-dong battle on Liverpool’s left flank. The former wins a corner for the away side, and Tsimikas delivers one of the worst corners of the season, which bounces before the first Chelsea man guarding the front post.
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38 min: Whisper it, but Cucurella has been excellent at the left-sided centre-back in Chelsea’s three.
Half-time scores in the other Premier League matches tonight:
Bournemouth 0-1 Brighton
Leeds 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Leicester 1-1 Aston Villa
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34 min: Alisson is nearly caught dallying by Havertz, who wins the ball back from Liverpool’s keeper on the byline, but can’t find a teammate with the bouncing ball. Fabinho did well there to tidy up.
31 min: Since the drinks break, Liverpool have had 77% possession, although haven’t really threatened. Still, it’s been a shift in momentum.
28 min: Havertz gets clear but drags his shot well wide. It was more of a half-chance, with the Chelsea forward shooting from a wide angle, but you never fancied the German, furthering my earlier point.
26 min: The players have a pre-agreed drinks break, so the players observing Ramadan, can take on fluids. Chelsea’s Kanté and Liverpool’s Konaté are among them.
GOAL DISALLOWED!
25 min: From a Chelsea corner, Havertz flicks the ball on towards the back post, where Enzo Fernández is lurking. The ball is cleared but only so far as James, one of the purest strikers in world football. James hammers a volley past Alisson from 20 yards, an extraordinary strike on its own, but ultimately it counts for nothing. Enzo Fernández is ruled offside from Havertz’s flick. I’d say the Chelsea man is maybe an inch offside, it’s a close – but correct – call.
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22 min: Koulibaly is not the ball-playing centre back Chelsea want him to be. For all their good play, Chelsea’s back three are under intense pressure when they have the ball, and you can certainly see the benefit of having someone like Cucurella back there in those situations.
20 min: Enzo Fernández looks like the real deal. All action, tidy feet, good engine and decision making. He, Firmino and Chilwell have been the best players on the pitch so far.
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17 min: Félix has, in contrast, looked very bright, both in this match and since his arrival in January. He’s unlucky to have a shot blocked on the edge of Liverpool’s area after a little shimmy sent Jones for a hot dog.
15 min: Cue a hat-trick for Havertz and a full inbox for me.
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14 min: Havertz: a fine footballer, and very elegant to boot. But not a striker. Sure, I know he scored in the Champions League final. Emmanual Petit once scored in a World Cup final, but that doesn’t make him good at finishing. Havertz doesn’t have a natural killer instinct. Broja is badly missed in this team.
12 min: Save from Alisson! A simple ball over the top finds Chilwell on the left, and Havertz is completely unmarked in the centre. Chilwell takes a touch and fires a low ball into the middle, but Liverpool’s goalkeeper rushes off his line to make a point-blank save from the German.
11 min: In the spirit of this frenetic start, here’s an email from Richard Hirst.
“Since both teams seem to have been chosen by picking out random player numbers I predict a chaotic match. Which should suit Nunez; a hat trick followed by a red card. I shall certainly be surprised if 22 players are on the pitch at the end.”
9 min: What I would say, in Liverpool’s favour, is that they are pressing very high. Three forwards against Chelsea’s back three, which means two things: Liverpool can be dangerous on the counter attack, with Chilwell and James up the field, and Liverpool’s midfield are outnumbered in transition. It’s a very, very open game!
7 min: Liverpool look very ropey.
5 min: Konaté clears off the line! Chelsea again outnumbered Liverpool in the final third. Havertz plays a poor square pass but the ball rebounds to Kovacic, who rounds Alisson but sees his low shot cleared by a sliding Konaté. A fast start from Chelsea!
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4 min: Huge chance for Félix, and nearly all of his own making. A miserable pass from Tsimikas let’s Chelsea counter at pace and suddenly the Portuguese has Matip one-on-one. Félix turns him inside out on the edge of Liverpool’s box, and just as he is pulling the trigger, Matip gets back to get a toe in. A crucial touch.
2 min: Kanté wins the ball back, sprints past his marker and draws a free-kick. And the world continues to turn.
Peeeeeep! And we’re off. Liverpool get us away.
Foo Fighters’ tune, The Pretender, plays out across the stadium as the camera pans to Bruno Saltor. Hmmm.
Here come the teams. Chelsea in their royal blue. Liverpool in their scarlet. Cucurella’s mascot is almost taller than him. The Spaniard is playing as one of three centre-backs tonight.
“Third manager in a season and Cucurella is still in the starting lineup,” emails Morten Skytte. “He has been guilty of so many mistakes leading to goals since joining Chelsea. Probably the worst defender in the history of Chelsea.”
I think Winston Bogarde would have something to say about that.
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Another email, from Kári Tulinius.
“I think the best indicator of how far this fixture has fallen this season, is that literally every other match today has more riding on it than this one. Leicester, Bournemouth, Leeds and Forest are struggling against relegation, while Brighton and Villa are fighting to get into Europe. I suppose Liverpool are part of the latter struggle, but all Chelsea have got is the opportunity to get past the symbolic 40 points.”
Three other Premier League fixtures are happening tonight. All are 7.45pm BST kick-offs so we’re about six minutes in. Scores are all goalless.
Bournemouth 0-0 Brighton
Leeds 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Leicester 0-0 Aston Villa
Have to say, I don’t fancy Liverpool tonight. I understand the need for changes after the manner of the defeat at City, but they look like a team that is set up to contain Chelsea tonight, rather than attack. They will most likely look to counter-attack, with Chelsea’s wing backs, Ben Chilwell and Reece James, on the offensive.
We hear from both ‘managers’:
Bruno Saltor: “There’s a lot of personality in that team, a lot of experience, and that’s going to help Chelsea. We expected some Liverpool changes but maybe not that many. Kanté is important, we are so happy to put him on the pitch.
Jürgen Klopp: “Some get a rest, some need a rest. Some others get opportunities. It’s clear we need fresh legs. I really hope we can show a reaction. We have to show that we care. We have a lot of quality to come on [from the bench].”
An email, from Niall Mullen.
“Ooh Matip in for Van Dijk, and no Trent or Robertson. It will be fun to see us lose in a different way.”
Got five minutes to kill? You could do a lot worse than than read David Squires’s latest cartoon.
Sky’s Geoff Shreeves is at his effervescent best, asking Jordan Henderson to “what extent this game is going to be a game of mentality?”
Daniel Sturridge, who scored a wondergoal for Liverpool at the Bridge in 2018, refers to it as ‘Hentality’.
Henderson gives both short shrift, and jogs back to the dressing room.
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Big news for Chelsea is that Kanté makes his first Premier League start since August. It wasn’t that long ago that he was the finest midfielder in this league. A huge plus for the Blues. And look at the depth on that bench. The question is: has Bruno Saltor picked the right XI?
Liverpool make six changes. Six! The previously undroppable Robertson, Alexander-Arnold and Salah are on the bench, while Van Dijk doesn’t make the squad – the Dutchman is ill. It’s just the third time the back four of Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas has played together.
The teams are in
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga, Wesley Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella, James, Fernandez, Kante, Chilwell, Havertz, Kovacic, Joao Felix. Subs: Badiashile, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Mudryk, Mendy, Sterling, Mount, Gallagher, Madueke.
Your Chelsea side tonight! 🙌#CheLiv pic.twitter.com/V3zxlBoNcq
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 4, 2023
Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas, Jones, Fabinho, Henderson, Jota, Firmino, Nunez. Subs: Milner, Salah, Gakpo, Robertson, Carvalho, Arthur, Phillips, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold.
🔴 #CHELIV TEAM NEWS 🔴
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 4, 2023
Our line-up to take on Chelsea tonight.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Preamble
Back in the relative hey-day of both these clubs, this fixture was once a mid-week staple in the Champions League. Alex’s thunderbastard of a free-kick, Luis García’s ghost goal, Frank Lampard’s tears. Yep, those encounters had just about everything, as the Blues and the Reds played out some timeless battles on their own journeys to European glory.
Things are a little different now. Chelsea are simultaneously without a manager, in the Champions League quarter-finals and undergoing something of an existential crisis, while Liverpool are pinballing between the sublime and the ridiculous. Out of Europe and both domestic cups, Liverpol’s season is not quite dead yet, although defeat tonight at the Bridge should put a bullet in their faint top-four hopes, the bare minimum for a passable campaign.
Here’s how things stand before kick-off. I’m going to have to post the entire league table because … er … both teams are nowhere near the top of it.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 29 | 43 | 72 |
| 2 | Man City | 28 | 45 | 64 |
| 3 | Newcastle | 27 | 22 | 50 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 29 | 12 | 50 |
| 5 | Man Utd | 27 | 4 | 50 |
| 6 | Brighton | 26 | 15 | 43 |
| 7 | Brentford | 28 | 9 | 43 |
| 8 | Liverpool | 27 | 15 | 42 |
| 9 | Aston Villa | 28 | -2 | 41 |
| 10 | Fulham | 28 | 0 | 39 |
| 11 | Chelsea | 28 | -1 | 38 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 29 | -15 | 30 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 29 | -19 | 28 |
| 14 | West Ham | 27 | -9 | 27 |
| 15 | Everton | 29 | -18 | 27 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 28 | -27 | 27 |
| 17 | AFC Bournemouth | 28 | -28 | 27 |
| 18 | Leeds | 28 | -12 | 26 |
| 19 | Leicester | 28 | -10 | 25 |
| 20 | Southampton | 29 | -24 | 23 |
Much has been written about Chelsea in recent days, and if you haven’t quite caught up with the whole picture, might I suggest you start here, here and here. Oh, and watch this.
Chelsea have followed Tottenham in sacking their manager, retaining most of said manager’s staff, and carrying on as normal as though nobody is watching. Bruno Saltor might be a generational managerial talent that has finally got his chance, but he’s more likely to be a Diet Potter, having followed Graham from Brighton’s first-team to Brighton’s backroom staff to Chelsea’s backroom staff. It’s a struggle to see how Chelsea will be transformed. Blues fans have every right to be as worried as Tottenham ones at the moment.
What we can say for certain is that we have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. And that’s quite exciting, isn’t it?
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
