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TNT Sports have just replayed the Chelsea goal, zoomed in close, at super-slow motion. Turns out we were right first time: it’s Fofana’s goal. He hangs out his leg as Fernandez’s low delivery comes curling into the box from the right. A brush of the studs nudges the ball forward … along exactly the same path as it was heading, into the bottom-left corner, but the touch makes it his goal.
Half-time advertising break / half-time entertainment. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
HALF TIME: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea
A half of two halves. Liverpool were the better side for the first 20 minutes. Then they switched off, got passive, and it’s been all Chelsea, who will be wondering how they’re not in the lead. A few boos send Liverpool down the tunnel. Not loads, just a few, but they were heard.
45 min: Ngumoha wins the ball in the middle of the park, but there’s nobody else in red up with the play. He’s forced to turn tail. More concerned muttering. There will be two additional first-half minutes.
43 min: Frimpong wins a throw in Chelsea territory. Some ironic cheering from the home fans. That it’s come to this for the champions of England.
41 min: Liverpool regain a semblance of control with some patient passing in the middle of the park. Baby steps. They only look truly comfortable when attacking, though. Any Slot-ian attempt at control inevitably ends in farce.
39 min: Chelsea should be leading. A simple ball down the middle, and Fernandez is clear! He shoots low and hard. Mamardashvili saves brilliantly, but the home fans are now almost mutinous. They are running hot.
37 min: A caveat: that might be Fernandez’s goal. In fact, it’s been given to him. It looked like it brushed Fofana’s boot, but here we are. Meanwhile Chelsea come again, Pedro taking a whack that’s blocked. The home fans are now fuming. Liverpool were in control of this game, then decided to sit back, and now are all over the shop!
GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Fofana 35)
The free kick is 35 yards out on the right. Fernandez sends it curling low into the box. Fofana sticks out a leg, the ball brushing the bottom of his boot and hardly deviating, sailing into the bottom left past a flat-footed Mamardashvili. Weird, but Liverpool didn’t deal with Fernandez’s delivery at all!
34 min: Liverpool have the ball on halfway, turn tail, and eventually it’s back with Mamardashvili, who slices it out of play for a throw on the right. From that, Gakpo clatters Fofana, and it’s a free kick in a dangerous position.
32 min: … and here he is, first winning a corner off Konate, then nearly latching onto a Santos pass down the left channel. Liverpool can’t get close to him at all, and Chelsea are playing their way back into this match. They’ve enjoyed 89 percent of possession during the last five minutes.
30 min: Caicedo wedges another lovely pass down the inside-left channel. Cucurella bursts clear, into the box, but his chest down drops to Mamardashvili, who smothers. Cucurella is an absolute menace, integral to everything good Chelsea are now doing.
29 min: Liverpool get passive for the first time this afternoon, allowing Chelsea to probe patiently down both flanks. The home fans don’t like it. A fair bit of disapproval.
27 min: Caicedo shovels a pass down the left to release Cucurella, with Jones miles out of position. Cucurella enters the box and creams a low drive from a tight angle. Mamardashvili palms away from danger. A fine shot with a save to match. Cucurella looks to be Chelsea’s main threat, he’s been a constant presence out on the left.
25 min: Chelsea had started with a back four. Now they’ve gone to a back three. Colwill goes long, hoping to release Cucurella down the left. Konate ushers the ball out for a goal kick, but is thrown to the ground by the Chelsea man for his trouble. Konate smiles, having enjoyed the tussle. The next duel could be worth keeping an eye on.
23 min: Now it’s Gravenberch’s turn to spin into space and send Ngumoha away down the left. Ngumoha elegantly dribbles across the face of the box, at one point drawing five blue shirts, and still manages to poke the ball to his right for Gakpo … who can’t get a shot away, and is offside anyway. I would say the 17-year-old Ngumoha is going to be some player … but he already is. So much fun to watch.
21 min: With the number 20 on the clock, thoughts turn to Diogo Jota. Better than Figo, don’t you know. Anfield warmly applauds.
20 min: … but this is better, Palmer spinning into space down the middle and slipping a pass between the centre-backs for Pedro. Mamardashvili is off his line quickly to smother at the striker’s feet.
18 min: Chelsea, who have scored once in the Premier League in their last six games, currently have an xG of 0.05. The away end is already grumbling a bit at their team’s inability to advance upfield.
16 min: Colwill tries to beat Mamardashvili, on walkabout, slightly out of position, from the halfway line. Full marks for ambition if not execution. “Let’s temper the sunny optimism, shall we Scott?” asks Graeme Neill, and that’s fine by me. “I think Mo had a point when he talked about leadership this week. While I don’t want to be all Captain Yesterday, a few seasons back there were probably four or five players who could have justifiably captained the side. Now? Van Dijk, Szob and, um... Maybe the role of the captain is overstated in the English game but they’re still people setting the agenda for the wider team. I don’t see anyone who could dish out a Milner-esque bollocking if they’re cruising anymore. But we’re now 1-0 up so who needs leaders, eh?”
14 min: Kerkez has the opportunity to release the electric Ngumoha down the left, but hesitates and the chance is gone. He has the good grace to offer a gesture of apology in his young team-mate’s direction.
13 min: Liverpool look lively, and Ngumoha jinks his way down the left, making enough space to cross. Nobody in red in the middle can get a shot away, and Chelsea hack clear. Liverpool have started so slowly so often this season, but not today.
11 min: Frimpong’s right-wing cross is deflected out for a corner. Mac Allister takes it short, back up the right wing. Szoboszlai swings towards Van Dijk on the left edge of the six-yard box. He’s got to score, surely, but leans back and skies the shot over the bar. VAR might have ruled any goal out for offside … but Fernandez was tangling with Van Dijk nanoseconds earlier, and might have played him on.
10 min: … so that was nearly an instant response from Chelsea, and Anfield is suddenly bit sullen as a result. Cucurella tries again down the left but can’t keep the ball in play. Chelsea clearly targeting the stand-in Liverpool right-back Jones.
8 min: That’s got Anfield bubbling away nicely. But then there’s a collective sharp intake of breath as Cucurella whips a cross in from the left. Gusto hooks it back into the middle from the right, hoping that Pedro can force home. But Van Dijk sticks his head in bravely to block and clear.
7 min: OK, maybe that wasn’t quite tucked into the postage stamp. But it was still a lovely finish, and the keeper, at full stretch, couldn’t get anywhere near it.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Chelsea (Gravenberch 6)
This is an absolute peach. Ngumoah stands up Gusto on the left, and rolls infield for Gravenberch, who shifts the ball a little further to the right before curling powerfully across Jorgensen and into the top right!
5 min: Szoboszlai blooters the free kick straight into the wall. But it doesn’t matter, because when the ball’s recycled …
4 min: Liverpool finally turn up for work, and Kerkez advances down the inside right before being clanked to the ground by Caicedo. A free kick, 30 yards out, and Szoboszlai looks like he fancies it.
3 min: Liverpool having avoided conceding farcically, they now allow Palmer a shot from a tight angle on the left. Mamardashvili again the only man on point. He gathers.
2 min: All a bit strange as Cucurella takes a very quick throw and Pedro dribbles a shot inches wide of the bottom left. Liverpool completely asleep, bar Mamardashvili, as though nothing whatsoever was going on. “We have a token Aussie here,” begins Julian Menz of Pre-match Postbag fame, “and she wants me to tell Matt Dony: ‘chill your undies mate, you’ll win’. Not quite sure about that, but anyway.”
Chelsea get the ball rolling at a lovely sunny Anfield. They’re kicking towards the Kop in this first half.
The teams are out! Liverpool in socialist red, Chelsea in royal blue. Anfield crackles with anticipation, albeit in that slightly understated 12.30pm-on-Saturday style. We’ll be off in a couple of Gerry-and-the-Pacemakers-soundtracked minutes. “I enjoyed the pre-match postbag,” trills Rob Knap. “I’m very much one of the (many, I imagine) rubberneckers today. My partner’s gone out and I’m a bit under the weather, sniffle, cough, etc - classic man flu - then I saw that Liverpool-Chelsea was on. How I’ve perked up! (Though that also might be the combo of too many Lemsips and extra-strong Lockets.) I foresee unbearable tension, slapstick defending and high aggro potential (not that any of us want to see any of the latter, of course).” Of course not.
Today’s pre-match postbag is positively brimming with optimism from both sets of supporters. “We’ve got our projector thingymajig working, the neighbours are bustling around, the grill is on. The perfect set-up for the local Chelsea fan to be utterly humiliated. My daughter just asked me, in her best English: ‘Are your team still crap dad?’ I’m absolutely buzzing for this one” – Julian Menz
“Ha! Joke’s on you! I’m already fuming! I mean, I’ve been through pretty much every negative emotion at some point in this season, but right now I’ll settle on ‘furious’. The first half last week in particular was pathetic. I’m not Slot Out (yet); he showed last season that he’s an excellent coach. He consistently made good tactical decisions and in-game alterations. It’s laughable to dismiss his title win as ‘Klopp’s side’. He was a huge part of it. But something has to change. I don’t know how or what. I don’t know what the summer will hold. I just know I want this season to be over. Isn’t football great?” – Matt Dony
“You want optimism? I got optimism! The sun is out, the sky is blue, there’s not a cloud to spoil the view but it’s.... wait what?” – Ian Copestake
“Looking forward to this. Can they both lose?” – Joshua Keeling
Arne Slot talks to TNT Sports. “A big opportunity … there are only three games to get four points [to be sure of Champions League qualification] so you have to take every opportunity there is … this is the first one … a home game against a very good team … we have to be really good off the ball … Chelsea are very comfortable on the ball and can play through you … quality players … that’s the way not to concede … if you want to win the game, as we want to, you need to be much more of an offensive threat from open play than we were last week against Man United … we had a lot of the ball but hardly could create a chance … we have to do better … [Rio Ngumoha] has played a lot … he has done really well … it is really nice to have him … but we are missing a lot of attacking threat today … all the goals Mo [Salah] has scored … Alex [Isak] is off the bench … Florian [Wirtz] is not available … Hugo [Ekitike] is not available … but the good thing is Rio is, Cody [Gakpo] is and Jeremie [Frimpong] is …Wirtz tried everything to be in it but has an infection in the stomach … he wasn’t feeling well during the week … things got worse and he wasn’t able to train.”
Both squads are depleted of first-team regulars, so depending how the game pans out, we could witness a Premier League debut or two this afternoon. Liverpool have striker Will Wright and defender Mor Talla Ndiaye, both 18, on the bench, alongside 19-year-old winger Kieran Morrison, while Chelsea could call on a couple of 17-year-old attackers in Ryan Kavuma‑McQueen and Mathis Eboue, the latter son of erstwhile Arsenal defender Emmanuel. Liverpool’s 18-year-old midfield prospect Trey Nyoni, with five Premier League appearances under his belt and 19 overall, seems a grizzled veteran by comparison.
The interim Chelsea boss Calum McFarlane speaks to TNT Sports. “We need to improve the performance from the Forest game … especially around setbacks and resilience and ability to react to moments that don’t go our way … I’d say that'd be the main thing … being honest and open … highlighting areas we need to improve … we’ve had to be creative with how we line the team up and make sure we have enough threat.”
Both teams have been all over the shop all season … but they can still salvage something from their disappointing campaigns. Should Liverpool win today, they’ll be on the verge of Champions League qualification; only Bournemouth could theoretically pip them, and if the Cherries fail to beat Fulham in today’s 3pms it’d be rubber-stamped. Chelsea by contrast can’t make the top five … and yet Europe is far from a pipe dream. A win in the FA Cup final would guarantee them Europa League football next season, while if they can make it to sixth spot, the Champions League would be on the cards if Aston Villa win the Europa League final and finish fifth (but only fifth). Don’t ask why, life’s too short.
Alexander Isak returns for Liverpool, but only as a named sub. The exciting 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha starts. Giorgi Mamardashvili is also back from injury and takes over from Freddie Woodman in goal. Florian Wirtz has a stomach bug and misses out altogether. And there’s still no Mohamed Salah, with time running out for the hamstrung living legend to make his Anfield curtain call. It’s Brentford in a fortnight’s time or bust.
Chelsea make a switch between the sticks too. Robert Sanchez picked up a head injury after colliding with Morgan Gibbs-White at Nottingham Forest and makes way for Filip Jorgensen. Should anything happen to the stand-in, the 21-year-old USA international Gaga Slonina will make his Chelsea debut. Levi Colwill makes his first start of the season after a long-term knee injury.
The teams
Liverpool: Mamardashvili, Jones, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Frimpong, Szoboszlai, Ngumoha, Gakpo.
Subs: Woodman, Gomez, Isak, Chiesa, Robertson, Nyoni, Morrison, Ndiaye, Wright.
Chelsea: Jorgensen, Colwill, Fofana, Hato, Gusto, Santos, Caicedo, Cucurella, Palmer, Fernandez, Joao Pedro.
Subs: Slonina, Adarabioyo, Delap, Chalobah, James, Acheampong, Lavia, Kavuma-McQueen, Eboue.
Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Tony Harrington
Preamble
Rubberneckers assemble! At the end of this game, chances are someone, somewhere is going to be fuming. Fuming and raging and throwing a tanty, because neither of these teams are in a good place, and things could get gnarly if and when it gets even worse. If Chelsea lose, it’ll be seven league defeats on the bounce, a run of misery suffered just once before in their history, and that 74 years ago, so imagine the ire if that transpires. But should they snap that run against Liverpool, an abject shower at Old Trafford last weekend losing their fifth match in eight, it’ll be the home fans telling each other, and the phone-ins, and the internet, exactly how they see it. Oh my. So whoever you support, whether or not you have any skin in the game, an afternoon of wild emotional tumult stretches out ahead of us all. Kick-off is at 12.30pm BST. It’s on!
