Thomas Tuchel followed in Jürgen Klopp’s footsteps to coach Mainz 05 then Borussia Dortmund, but he didn’t wait around for Klopp to vacate Merseyside, managing first Paris Saint-Germain and now Chelsea. Tuchel went into the match with just two wins in fourteen attempts against Klopp, however given the majority of these were while he was at Mainz, it isn’t really a fair reflection of the two Germans’ abilities.
Klopp made two changes to the side that beat Sheffield United, with Fabinho fit enough to come back into the defence and Alisson Becker ready to come back in goal, dropping Nathaniel Phillips and Adrian. Liverpool set up in their usual 4-4-3 formation.
Tuchel made three changes to the team that drew with Manchester United. Out went Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mateo Kovacic and Olivier Giroud, replaced by Reece James, Jorginho and Timo Werner. Chelsea set up in a 3-4-3 shape.
Chelsea did however modify this shape in defence, moving to a 3-5-2. Mason Mount would drop back into midfield to ensure the Blues weren’t outnumbered, while Hakim Ziyech was up front next to Werner. As they do against most front twos, Liverpool formed a makeshift back three to play around them, with Trent Alexander-Arnold staying back alongside the centre-backs.
Pass the ball out to Andy Robertson or Trent Alexander-Arnold and it would often be Ben Chilwell or James rather than Mount or Kanté that pushed up to meet the full-back. This caused a few problems on the left, where Antonio Rüdiger struggled to deal with Mohamed Salah’s runs. The Egyptian was Liverpool’s main threat, yet he found himself stationed out wide most of the time rather than through the centre.
It was Chelsea that dominated. Tuchel laid out his strategy before the match when explaining why Werner was picked, saying “Speed. Speed. Speed. Speed against the high line. It’s clear we expect that we need it on this level, high speed, and Timo has the speed, and this is why he’s in.” Whenever they had some space, Chelsea would look to hit direct passes in behind Liverpool’s high line for Werner to run onto.
They appeared to have scored from this only to have the goal ruled out for offside, but it was instead Mount who got the only goal. Chelsea countered, hitting a long ball forward for Mount to run onto, and the Chelsea academy product cut inside off the left and finished inside the far post.
Liverpool’s high line was criticised even before it was decimated by injuries. It isn’t necessarily the high line itself that is the issue but the fact they offer little pressure on the ball. This means that the opposition not only has acres of space behind Liverpool’s backline to aim passes into, but also the time to pick out accurate ones. With Liverpool’s forwards chasing them down, an opposition defender would often hit a hopeful hoof that could easily be mopped up by the defenders or Alisson; without that pressure, they can actually pick out proper through balls into the forwards.
Liverpool’s lack of pressure wasn’t for want of trying though. They did try to press Chelsea’s backline, it was just hopelessly ineffective. With Chelsea utilising a back three, the obvious structure would have seen Liverpool’s attacking trio each pick up a centre-back, however in reality it was left to Sadio Mané and Salah as Roberto Firmino stayed in midfield, blocking a pass into Kanté or Jorginho. This was perhaps done to strengthen Liverpool’s injury-ravaged midfield, with both Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcântara new additions to the system struggling to deal with its substantial defensive requirements, yet it weakened their first line, and Chelsea found it easy to find a free man and play out.
Jones was moved forward next to Firmino part-way through the first half, meaning they each picked up one of Kanté and Jorginho rather than asking Firmino to cover both, but this did nothing to deal with the problem higher up. Mané and Salah would be drawn inside, leaving one of the centre-backs free, and this enabled Chelsea to outnumber Liverpool on the flanks. Alexander-Arnold and Robertson would push up and Jones and Thiago would be pulled wide to deal with them, however with a centre-back, a midfielder and a wing-back in this area, Chelsea could easily pass around them and progress, three-versus-two. As a result it wasn’t difficult for Chelsea to get time on the ball and pick out those passes in behind.
Taking the lead was perfect for Chelsea’s gameplan as it allowed them to sit back, defend their lead and draw Liverpool forward, then hit them on the counter-attack with balls up to Werner.
Liverpool had lots of the ball but offered nothing, taking 84 minutes to finally muster a shot on goal. Diogo Jota made his long-awaited return in place of Salah and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner replaced Jones and Thiago, but there were no real strategic changes as Liverpool succumbed to their fifth home defeat in a row.
With just twelve points in thirteen matches, Champions League qualification looks an increasingly unlikely ask for this Liverpool side. Chelsea on the other hand are in an excellent position to pip them.
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