The 1,000th game of Jürgen Klopp’s managerial career will not be remembered with fondness, if it is remembered at all. “I heard Arsène Wenger lost his 1,000th game 6-0 so I’m really happy that didn’t happen,” the Liverpool manager said. Klopp was determined to accentuate the positives despite his team, and Chelsea, illustrating why Champions League qualification may be beyond them.
A flat goalless draw at a freezing Anfield did nothing to validate talk of a revival from either Klopp or Graham Potter, although both seized on any crumbs of encouragement they could find. For Chelsea, whose run of six Premier League away games without a win is their worst in over seven years, they came in an impressive second half display from new £88m signing Mykhailo Mudryk and another imperious defensive performance from 38-year-old Thiago Silva. For Liverpool, who remain without a league win in 2023, it was a second successive clean sheet and the return to fitness of Darwin Núñez. Slim pickings indeed.
