Chelsea vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as match ends in goalless draw
Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool: Bruno Saltor takes a point from his first game in charge as Chelsea rue missed chances against Liverpool
Interim Chelsea manager, Bruno Saltor, will be pleased to take a point away from this first game in charge but will be kept awake by the chances his team missed against the still underperforming Liverpool.
After a quick start from the hosts, Joao Felix and Mateo Kovacic should have sent the Blues two goals up inside the opening six minutes but last-ditch defending from Ibrahima Konate and Joel Matip denied them the opener.
Liverpool were sluggish and slow to get into the game. That was perhaps excusable after Jurgen Klopp made six changes to the starting XI that lost to Manchester City at the weekend.
What isn’t excusable is the still shaky defence and the Reds were lucky to be twice reprieved following disallowed goals for Reece James and Kai Havertz - the first for a miniscule offside and the second for a handball.
This must-win match for both teams ended in a whimper and leaves both managers with problems to solve before the weekend.
Relive all the action as Chelsea drew Liverpool in the Premier League:
Klopp on facing Chelsea
“Maybe [it will have] the normal impact after a manager leaves.
“I don’t know now, you told me the coaching staff obviously will stay, and we have not a real session between the last and the game tomorrow night. So, we have today obviously a session, but from a recovery point of view you cannot do any intense stuff mentally and physically, so it’s more talking.
“That’s what they will do, definitely. But I am pretty sure Chelsea, the players, want to show a reaction, whatever, it always is. When you saw the Bayern game against Dortmund, there was a reaction for whatever reason. That’s it.
“I think apart from that there is maybe rotation a little bit – [N’Golo] Kante is back, other players, Mason [Mount] was injured I think, was on the bench first time [at the weekend], might play.
“So, line-up-wise they could change system, I don’t know. They changed system during the season but we expect actually pretty similar to the last games.”
Jurgen Klopp, the Premier League’s last man standing, looks for a different way out
It was a brutal Sunday for Premier League managers. First the axe fell on Brendan Rodgers, then on Graham Potter. Each had lost on Saturday, but by one and two goals respectively. Liverpool were beaten by three. Jurgen Klopp was asked about the departures of men he likes and respects. “I think the elephant in the room is probably from your point of view why I am still sitting here in this crazy world,” he said. “The last man standing.”
Liverpool have lost their last three games. Their second half against Manchester City was, in the German’s words, “awful”. Their season has been a series of ignominies: the Champions League eviscerations by Napoli and Real Madrid, the harrowing showings at Brentford and Brighton and Wolves, the losses to relegation-threatened Leeds and Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
Klopp is nevertheless still standing. He is the third longest-serving manager in the Football League, behind only Harrogate’s Simon Weaver and Accrington’s John Coleman, and for much of a seven-year reign, longevity has been a sign of success. Now he is propped up by his past, as he willingly admits. He is the Champions League winner, the first manager to win the English title for Liverpool in 30 years, the coach who came within two games of a quadruple last year. He has credit in the bank in a way Potter, in particular, did not. He wishes he did not need to rely on it.
The Premier League’s last man standing looks for a different way out
The Liverpool manager admitted he would be without a job if it were not for his past success as the Reds begin their latest attempt to kickstart a stuttering season
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Liverpool could go five league games unbeaten at Stamford Bridge for the first time.
The last three meetings in all competitions have ended goalless.
There have only ever been four successive 0-0 draws between two top-flight clubs - Everton against Liverpool between 1974-1975 and Arsenal versus QPR between 1992-1994.
Chelsea vs Liverpool
Each of the last five meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool in all competitions have been draws.
The Reds have never drawn six in a row against any opponent before, while the Blues last did so as a top-flight side against Burnley in 1956.
How not to run a football club: A lesson from Chelsea and Todd Boehly
Never has so much been spent to accomplish so little. If Chelsea lose to Real Madrid, and the sacking of Graham Potter was a sign they had precious little hope of victory with him, there is a case for deeming theirs one of the worst seasons in footballing history. They have committed around £600m in transfer and loan fees for players and managers, exited both domestic cups without scoring, let alone winning, languish in the lower half of the Premier League, without beating any of its top eight teams and having been outscored by the team in 19th.
It is hard to think of a bigger gulf between expenditure and achievement. If Potter has been the face of failure, Todd Boehly is the architect of it. It would complete a perfect year of dreadful decision-making if the manager he sacked, Thomas Tuchel, ends the season winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Boehly got rid of one of the world’s best managers and replaced him with an inferior figure, lacking the charisma and decisiveness elite clubs require. Chelsea paid Brighton £21m for Potter, only scored 21 league goals under him and now face another hefty pay-off.
How not to run a football club: A lesson from Chelsea and Todd Boehly
Chelsea may have spent around £600m on one of the worst seasons in the club’s history, but the long-term price for a year of excess and knee-jerk ignorance may be even more severe
Saltor frustrated at Potter’s sacking
Bruno Saltor gave the Chelsea press conference yesterday and spoke about Graham Potter’s sacking.
“Obviously there is a frustration because processes take time. All of us, we know the situation here and it is what it is. We need to focus on (Tuesday) and focus on Liverpool,” he said,
“Thinking about the past and what has happened before is not helping me now.
“Obviously I don’t know exactly what were the promises to Graham in that case but it’s a club decision. I’ve been coaching for four years and I’ve been under Graham. He’s been the manager and always had the last word. It’s quite clear that’s not going to be the case now.
“(Tuesday) is going to be the first time (I pick the team). I feel good, it’s my duty, it’s a responsibility and I’m in a really important club and I want to try my best.”
Jurgen Klopp on facing Chelsea after Graham Potter’s sacking
"After a manager leaves, I don’t know. The coaching staff obviously will stay.
"We have not had a real session between our last game and tomorrow night. Today, from a recovery point of view, we cannot do intense stuff mentally and physically. It’s more talking.
"I’m petty sure Chelsea will want to show a reaction. Apart from that, maybe rotation? Kante is back, Mason was injured but might play.
"Line-up wise there might be a change to their system, I don’t know. We expect pretty similar to our last game’s."
Chelsea interim manager Bruno Saltor admits ‘frustration’ at Graham Potter sacking
Bruno Saltor concedes there is a sense of frustration over the lack of patience Graham Potter was given at Chelsea, but he is focused on picking a starting line-up for the first time.
The former Brighton full-back has been thrust into the top job at Stamford Bridge on an interim basis after Potter was dismissed on Sunday evening.
It was only seven months ago Chelsea spent a British record of £21.5million to prize Potter and his backroom staff away from Brighton not long after Todd Boehly and his Clearlake Capital consortium completed their purchase of the west London club.
While results have been poor and Potter won only four of his last 19 Premier League fixtures, the decision to part ways with the ex-Swansea boss means a vastly inexperienced coach will share the touchline with Jurgen Klopp for Tuesday’s visit of Liverpool.
Chelsea interim manager Bruno Saltor admits ‘frustration’ at Graham Potter sacking
The Blues spent a British record £21.5million to prize Graham Potter and his staff away from Brighton
Chelsea vs Liverpool prediction
This is a tough match to call given the poor form from both teams. Chelsea have home advantage but no manager following Graham Potter’s sacking. Interim boss, Bruno Saltor, is taking charge and will want to impose his style on the team.
Liverpool have quality players and when they’re on top form they can be a handful. Jurgen Klopp’s job is to get them to bounce back from a heavy defeat against Man City and hopefully pile more misery onto Chelsea.
Chelsea 0 -1 Liverpool
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