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Arne Slot’s Liverpool missed the chance to all but secure Champions League football next season after a 1-1 draw against a wounded Chelsea in the English Premier League (EPL) on Saturday.
The Blues had come into this clash having lost six consecutive EPL games.
Ryan Gravenberch’s sweet strike in the sixth minute gave Liverpool the perfect start, but Chelsea hit back to salvage a point when Enzo Fernandez’s free-kick in the 35th minute evaded everyone in the middle to find the bottom corner.
Liverpool get booed
Boos at full-time reflected the mood around Anfield after another lacklustre performance from the defending champions. Coach Slot was also booed heavily for substituting Rio Ngumoha — the Reds’s liveliest attacker in the match — in the 67th minute to bring on record-signing Alexander Isak.
Liverpool goalscorer Gravenberch, was disappointed with their fans’s behaviour, claiming the team deserve more support rather criticism. “We need [the fans] behind us. OK, we didn’t win, but we don’t really deserve this. Fans have to be behind us for 90 minutes. Hopefully the next few games they won’t do the same,” said the midfielder.
Slot explained his decision to take off Ngumoha had to do with the 17-year-old nursing a muscle issue, but lamented his team’s inability to control the midfield in the first-half despite a better performance in the second period.
“We started off really well and then in quite a large phase of the game we struggled to control their midfielders. Unfortunately we conceded a set piece and that makes it really hard in a top game to win. It was such a sloppy goal [to concede]. But second-half, I saw a completely different intensity in terms of pressing. We hit the post, hit the bar, but it was not enough to win,” said Slot.
Chelsea show character
Chelsea deserve credit for the way they fought back — a trait that has been missing recently — after trailing early. Despite failing to win, Calum McFarlane’s side will take plenty of positives from this game, which should hold them in good stead when they face Manchester City in the FA Cup summit clash on May 16.
Four
No. of wins for Liverpool in their last 10 games across all competitions
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