Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea; Players Rating vs Liverpool

Chelsea is back in the top 4 after an impressive away performance against the defending champion Liverpool. Chelsea is the better team at both ends of the pitch throughout the match as Liverpool has only one shot on the target throughout the match that was in the 85th minute of the match to show how Chelsea has been dominant defensively. in the attacking aspect of the match, Chelsea could and should have been scored more than a goal as Ziyech's attempt was clear of the heroically by Robertson and Werner had a goal controversially disallowed by VAR which the goal should have stood. But it was deserved and a massive win for Chelsea to keep the momentum goes in the race for the top 4. Chelsea line up at their usual 3 at the back system and here is the players rating of the match.

 

Note;(GK-Goal Keeper, CB- Centre Back, LWB- Left Wing Back, RWB-Right Wing Back, CM- Centre Midfield, LF-Left Forward, RF-Right Forward ST-Striker, )

GK- Edouard Mendy – He waits until the 85th minute to make the first save of the match and probably one of his easiest save to make. His handling was good throughout the match as he did well with the Liverpool crosses but relatively he has nothing do to rather than that. Rating- 6.5/10

 CB- Azpilicueta – Had one shaky moment as he loses Mane from Salah’s through ball. But apart from that, it was a captain’s performance. Dealt well with the pace of Sadio Mane and create one chance for Werner which the striker should have scored. Rating 8/10  

CB- Andreas Christensen – this is the first 10/10 rating for a player since I started my blog. What a world-class display for the Danish International as completely pocket it Firminho for throughout the match. Especially in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half when Liverpool had their best spell of the match Christensen was immense at the back for Chelsea. He made one last-ditch tackle to prevent Sadio Mane from scoring. And also he had a match-high of 9 clearances to show how commanding he was against Liverpool. It’s the 2nd man of the match performance from him and Tuchel has a real selection headache to make since the returning of Thiago Silva as Christensen is cannot be dropped after this type of Performances.    Rating 10/10 Man of the Match

CB- Ruediger- yet again Ruediger was outstanding for Chelsea. Not many defenders can handle Mohamed Salahs threat and pace but Ruediger's presence in the backline saw Salah completely disappear from the match. In the 2nd half when Sadio Mane Switched to Salah's position Ruediger completely bullied him and didn’t let go past him. Alongside Christensen and Azpilicueta Chelsea’s back 3 completely dominated Liverpool’s front 3.  Rating 9/10

RWB- Reece James- Seemed like he was going to have a torrid with Andrew Robertson after James struggled to contain him on a few occasions in 1st half. But after the game went on James defensively dealt well with the Liverpool fullback. Couldn’t offer much when he goes forward but he put in some good crosses inside the box. Rating 7/10

LWB- Ben Chilwell – Defensively he dealt with everything especially in the last 10 minutes of the game he put in some defensive duties for Chelsea. Created one good chance for Werner and also had a shot saved Alisson Becker after a nice linkup play with Mason Mount. But the issue with Chilwell was his end product has to be better for upcoming matches as he gets into some good positions but his crossing let him down massively. But recently Chilwell seems to do a better job in the left wing-back compare to Alonso and will start ahead of Marcos Alonso for the Upcoming Matches. Rating 7.5/10

CM- Ngolo Kante- this is the performance of a player who completely swapped all the individual awards back in 2017 in the Premier League for Chelsea. It’s another player who produced a world-class display for this match. Superb assist for Mount as the only goal of the match and he had some nice pinpoint passes to forwards so start the attack. Defensively he protected the Chelsea backline well as he stopped some of Liverpool’s attacks. Alongside the back 3, it’s another reason why Liverpool only had one shot on target in this match. Rating 9.5/10

CM- Jorginho- Controlled midfield well and also his compose and calm in Midfield was one of the key reasons for Chelsea to play out from the back. But sometimes he was overplaying in Chelsea’s defensive half which ended up in a dangerous situation for Chelsea but he then recovers it well from that. His brilliant assist for Werner was ruled by the offside call from VAR which the goal should have stood. But alongside Kante, he completely dominated the Liverpool Midfield throughout the match.    Rating-8.5/10 

RF- Hakim Ziyech- This was his better display after the horrendous show against Manchester United. But he was quiet for the Majority of the first 45 minutes then he started to get into the match in 2nd half. His shot was heroically cleared off the line by Andrew Robertson in 2nd half and Ziyech put in some dangerous crosses as well. Overall it’s a much-improved display compare to his previous outings. Rating 7/10

 LF- Mason Mount- the match-winner. Left Fabinho to dead as he cut inside to his stronger right foot and finished superbly. He also created some good chances as well for the search of the 2nd goal for Chelsea as Mount gave torrid time for Liverpool’s back 4. But yet again his decision-making could have been better for certain situations especially in the 2nd half when he could have created a goal-scoring chance for Werner with a through ball but instead of that Mounts pass it to Chilwell. But apart from that Mount was put in a brilliant shift in attacking and defensively as tracked back won the ball couple of times for the teammates. Rating 9/10 

 ST- Timo Werner - the unluckiest player on the pitch today. His goal was controversially ruled for the armpit offside call which was a disgraceful decision by the VAR. he also should have scored inside the first 15 minutes as his attempt to lob Alisson Becker was not succeeded by him. But Werner had a really good game as his pace and movement caused a lot of problems for Liverpool’s defense. If he continues to perform like this for upcoming matches the goals will come for him very soon.   Rating 8.5/10 

 

Substitution

Christian Pulisic for Hakim Ziyech - came on for the last 24 minutes to add some fresh legs but he couldn’t have a meaningful impact in the match. -Rating 5/10

Kovacic for Mason Mount- Came on for the last 10 minutes to add some defensive qualities in the team as Liverpool trying to push for an equalizer - Rating 5/10

Kai Havertz For Timo Werner – came on for the last 3 minutes to run off some time. Rating 5/10

 

Manager

Thomas Tuchel- I criticized him for the player’s selection and the game management against Manchester United. But today he was spot on everything he has done. The players he picked up did their jobs perfectly. The game plan to stop Liverpool’s attack workout well for Chelsea as the high pressing of the Chelsea players caused a lot of issues for the Liverpool players. the team has improved in their final 3rd as well as Chelsea could have scored more than a goal but only denied by the VAR and some of Liverpool’s heroic defending and goalkeeping. This was supposed to be Chelsea’s difficult period as many thought the team will fall on this difficult run of fixtures. But Chelsea gets past these difficult fixtures well after the win against Atletico Madrid, draw at Manchester United, and now a win against Liverpool. It’s all down the Thomas Tuchels tactical master class, brilliant game management, and the way he handling the players also a key for this as the players want to play for him. As for the rating, the manager deserved the full rating for his impact on the team.  Rating 10/10