Liverpool maintained their unbeaten run thanks largely to a stunning late equalizer from Daniel Sturridge to draw against Chelsea. Eden Hazard’s first-half goal took the Reds on the backfoot earlier on but Liverpool, were lucky, at the very least, to get away with one point even after fluffing a lot of good chances.
The draw sees Manchester City oust Liverpool at the top of the table with the Reds currently standing second in the table with 19 points. Chelsea have slipped to third after drawing both of their last two Premier League matches. But, the Blues still have a two-point lead over fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
Here are the Liverpool players rated in their performance against Chelsea in this weekend’s primetime fixture.
Alisson (8/10): Showed exactly why he’s deemed as one of the best goalkeepers in the world when he pulled off a stunning save to deny Willian in the first half. He could have done a little better in positioning himself quickly in order to deny Eden Hazard from scoring the equalizer in the 23rd minute. But, he redeemed himself after making another top save to keep out Hazard from doubling Chelsea’s lead in the second half.
Trent-Alexander Arnold (7/10): Struggled to get forward on regular intervals due to the presence of Eden Hazard, which, in turn, made it difficult for Mohamed Salah to make a bigger impact on proceedings.
Joe Gomez (7/10): A decent outing for the young defender, who was somewhat overshadowed by the intimidating the presence of Virgil Van Dijk alongside him in central defence. He did well to contain Olivier Giroud nonetheless whilst making an important clearance later in the second half.
Virgil Van Dijk (8/10): Imposed his authority in the early stages of the game as the Dutchman made a series of excellent interceptions, which tuned in perfectly with Liverpool’s aggressive tactics against Chelsea. He was dominant in the air, as usual, winning the most number of headed duels than any other player on the pitch.
Andrew Robertson (7.5/10): His scintillating low cross to serve Xherdan Shaqiri on the platter, was the best chance of the game for Liverpool. Defensively, Robertson was very good in dealing with Willian and later, Eden Hazard when he switched flanks as the game progressed.
Georginio Wijnaldum (7/10): A mixed performance from the Dutchman, who played an important role in Liverpool’s transition in midfield. He also showed impressive interplay with attackers in the final third but made a sloppy error towards the end.
Jordan Henderson (7/10): Just like Jorginho, Jordan Henderson remained solid in his defensive duties and his ball circulation was top-notch, attempting 73 passes with an accuracy of 88%.
James Milner (6.5/10): Didn’t make much of an impact on proceedings apart from his tireless runs, which was somewhat crucial to Liverpool’s aggressive start to the game.
Mohamed Salah (8/10): Wasn’t as clinical as last season as Salah failed to make the most of his opportunities, despite creating a lot of chances for himself. Most of his attempts went wide of the target though he does deserve some credit for being the most active Liverpool attacker in the first half. He was unlucky to have been denied by a Toni Rudiger clearances just after the half-hour mark and his substitution in the second half was certainly disheartening for the Liverpool fans.
Roberto Firmino (7.5/10): His clever runs and quick interplay with Salah bamboozled the Chelsea defence for the large parts of the first half. But, his influence started to fade as the game wore on and at the end, it was a pretty average display from the Brazilian international.
Sadio Mane (6.5/10): Struggled to make an impact on the right flank, coming up against a sturdy Azpilicueta. As a result, Mane was seen shifting into a more central role in more than one occasion. But even then, the Senegalese really failed to make any notable contribution in the attack this evening.
Substitutes
Xherdan Shaqiri (7/10): Missed a sitter in the second half, in what can easily be deemed as the best chance of the game as the Swiss international failed to connect properly to Andrew Robertson’s lovely swirling low-cross into the box. However, it’s probably to acknowledge that his introduction did make a little difference in Liverpool’s attacking dynamics in the second half.
Naby Keita (NA): Was given very little time to make any sort of impact after he replaced Jordan Henderson in the 78th minute.
Daniel Sturridge (NA): Definitely the star of the show as the ex-Chelsea striker slotted the ball from long-range to score the equalizer in the late minute of the game, leaving the goalkeeper absolutely clueless. Unfortunately, however, we are not eligible to rate Sturridge as he was introduced just four minutes before the final whistle.
Stat courtesy: Whoscored
