It was a game involving two teams plagued by a bug of abysmal showing, wishy-washy performances and an ill-fated season as Chelsea battled Liverpool in a mid-table affair on Tuesday.
Chelsea’s formation and starting XI
Interim manager of Chelsea, Bruno Saltor set out his side in a 3-4-3 formation with Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal alongside Fofana, Koulibaly, Cucurella, James, Enzo Fernandez, Kante, Chilwell, Felix, Kovacic and Havertz.
The starting line-up of Liverpool and formation deployed
Jurgen Klopp, the away manager on the night lined-up his Liverpool team in a 4-3-3 formation with Allison in goal and Gomez, Konate, Matip, Tsimikas, Jones, Fabinho, Henderson, Jota, Firmino in addition to Nunez completing the 11.
Liverpool kicked things off in the clash
The Merseyside club kicked things off in the game and Jordan Henderson earned a free kick in the first minute of action.
The first 45 minutes of action was keenly contested with both sides matching the intensity of their opposition in the game.
In the 17th minute, Joao Felix sought to locate the bottom corner with a curling effort but Matip was in the way to block the attempt from the Portuguese.
Eight minutes later, James scored for Chelsea but the goal was ruled out.
Afterward, a corner from Ben Chilwell found Kai Havertz who tried to find Enzo Fernandez. Unfortunately, Fernandez couldn’t get to the pass but Reece James was in an advantageous position to bury the ball into the net but the joy of Chelsea fans across the globe was short lived as the referee adjudged that Fernandez was offside in the build up to the home side’s goal.
VAR also conducted their own check but they also decided that the former Benfica midfielder was ahead of Ibrahima Konate.
In the dying embers of the first half, Kepa Arrizabalaga saved a shot off an attempt from Joe Gomez as Liverpool tried to open scoring in the game.
Both sides continued to go at each other but after three minutes of additional time in the first 45 minutes, it ended in a stalemate just like it did in the first leg at Anfield.
How the second half of proceedings went
After the commencement of second half of hostilities, Joel Matip picked up a yellow card following a late tackle on Joao Felix in the 46th minute.
Chelsea wasted a glorious chance in the 47th minute after Ngolo Kante found Mateo Kovacic but the former Real Madrid man fired his attempt over the bar.
2 minutes later, Chelsea once again got the ball into the back of the net after Kante played a through-ball to Havertz who chipped the ball over Allison.
But the Brazilian shot-stopper made a save and the ball bounced back off Kai Havertz into the net.
However, VAR ruled out the goal due to the ball making a contact with the arm of the German attacker before going into the net.
In the 56th minute, Kostas Tsimikas was booked by the referee for a foul on Joao Felix in front of the box. He was issued a yellow card by Anthony Taylor for his troubles.
5 minutes later, Curtis Jones was yellow-carded due to him arguing with Anthony Taylor, the center referee.
The side from Merseyside tutored by Jurgen Klopp made two substitutions in the 65th and 66th minute respectively as Mohammed Salah replaced Roberto Firmino and Andrew Robertson replaced Kostas Tsimikas.
In the 68th minute, Mateo Kovacic was cautioned with a yellow card for a foul on Fabinho. Ngolo Kante was substituted a minute later for Connor Gallagher but the Frenchman had a great game in his first start since his return from injury.
It was a even battle between Chelsea and Liverpool
Both sides continued to huff and puff in a game between two sides who have been watery in the current campaign.
Fabinho got his name into the referee’s book in the 74th minute after his elbow hit the face of Joao Felix who went past him.
Bruno Saltor admired the prospect of getting more legs in attack in order to secure the three points in the encounter and brought on Mudryk for Chilwell
Jurgen Klopp responded with substitutions of his own introducing Cody Gakpo for Curtis Jones and James Milner for Darwin Nunez in the 79th minute.
The West London side made the last and final substitution in the game with Raheem Sterling coming on for Joao Felix in an evening where they have once again dropped points.
The referee gave five minutes as additional time in the match but still, both teams couldn’t engineer any moment of magic that would result in a goal.
Chelsea and Liverpool settled for a draw
It finished level pegging at Stamford Bridge in similar manner like it ended in the first leg at Anfield and neither Liverpool nor Chelsea could find the back of the net in this meeting.
The two teams remained where they were sitted before the game on Tuesday night as Chelsea occupy 11th on the Premier League table while Liverpool stay 8th.
Match Highlights Below:
