Key events
35 min: I would not be surprised if Liverpool made a number of changes at half-time. Elliott has been poor, Jota has been almost anonymous.
33 min: In possession, Caicedo is often moving from right-back into midfield to create an extra man. What that means that if Liverpool win quick turnover ball, there is a big hole on their left and Chelsea’s right for Gakpo to exploit.
31 min: Chelsea hit the bar! Madueke shimmies inside Alexander-Arnold and his deflected cross eventually finds Caicedo on the right. The Ecuadorian wriggles away from Tsimikas and floats in a hopeful cross to the back post. The ball loops over Alisson and hits the top of the bar – Liverpool are fortunate it bounces behind rather than back into play, where Madueke and Jackson were waiting for a rebound.
29 min: Cucurella is having an excellent game at left-back. Somewhere in his pocket, Salah is wriggling around.
27 min: Liverpool are starting to suffocate Chelsea with their possession. Wave after wave of attack comes forward with the Reds probing this way and that. Chelsea stay strong in their defensive shape, for now. The Blues still offer a threat on the counter-attack but momentum is certainly with Liverpool.
25 min: Caicedo needlessly fouls Gakpo and Liverpool have a chance to advance Van Dijk and Quansah for a free-kick into the box. Tsimikas crosses to the back post, but Chelsea defend it well.
23 min: Salah is quietly having a bit of a stinker on the right wing. He is struggling to control easy passes and twice Cururella has nipped in to win possession. There is a wry smile on Salah’s face as the camera pans to him, as if to say: “I’m not quite sure what is going on!” He’ll surely get it together soon.
20 min: Jackson’s pace in behind is causing all sorts of problems to Liverpool’s high line. Jackson again sprints onto a high lofted ball forward and just misses the bounce of the ball. A touch there would have left Quansah and Alisson completely stranded.
17 min: Just as he did for the goal, Neto gets another chance to run at Tsimikas, but this time the Liverpool defender reads the body feint and edges out the Portuguese winger, who appeals in vain for a penalty. Good defending.
15 min: We’re seeing replays of Chelsea’s goal, and Lavia really showed his quality there at the base of Maresca’s midfield to feed Palmer, who also showed great movement to lose his marker (Jones).
13 min: “It’s surprising how many positions do need strengthening to challenge again next season, especially in Europe and against a new look City,” emails Jeff Goines. “I seem to be the only one who thinks the forwards need a major overhaul, the majority of them are overrated by Liverpool fans and I’d cash in on Diaz in a second for good money. Obviously Nunez has to go if they can recoup a fair amount. Jota I can’t see anyone clambering for so I’d keep, as well as Chiesa … no idea what’s gone on there but I think we’d be silly not to give the player that’s in there somewhere a second go. Bring in someone who can play down the middle, no idea who but it’s definitely not Isak because we won’t pay that. Left back, right back, CB and DM. Other thank that looking good!”
11 min: Jackson goes clean through and toe-pokes the ball past Alisson just outside Liverpool’s box before the Chelsea striker is cleaned out. It is surely a red card for the Liverpool goalkeeper … Jackson would have tapped the ball into an empty net … but the flag goes up for offside! Replays show the Senegalese just strayed off from the initial through ball.
9 min: Gakpo gets clear of Caicedo on Liverpool’s left and curls an effort at goal, saved by Sanchez, when he might have looked to teammates in the middle.
7 min: Liverpool simply haven’t settled. Elliott and Endo have failed to give Slot his customary control in the middle of the pitch. Sometimes a player like Mac Allister does not always stand out in the same way that Salah does, but the Argentinian – on the bench today – very rarely loses the ball and is so tactically astute.
5 min: Chelsea are motoring! Madueke picks the ball up in space and has Cucurella to his left. He ignores the decoy run, and Jackson and Fernandez to his right and takes a shot on the edge of Liverpool’s box, dragging his effort wide. A waste of an excellent opening. Maresca will have wanted more from that situation.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Fernandez 3)
A beautiful goal! Lavia starts the move, slipping a gorgeous pass to Palmer in midfield. The ball goes wide to Neto and the Portuguese drives into the box, delivering a low cross to Fernandez. The World Cup winner does well to take a touch – the cross was a touch in front of him and a first-time finish would have been a stretch – and Fernandez finishes with a sidefoot finish from 10 yards out. Great goal!
2 min: Liverpool look very sharp from the off, with Salah and Elliott exchanging a neat one-two. The Egyptian got to the byline and pulled a low cross across goal, but Sanchez got down well to gather nicely.
Peeeeeeeeeeeep!
We’re off at Stamford Bridge!
The teams are out. Chelsea arrive on the pitch first and line up in a guard of honour for the new champions. Liverpool’s side walk out and through the avenue of Chelsea players to boos from the Stamford Bridge crowd. Hmmmm.
“There’s no point in keeping players that Slot won’t play, so Chiesa and Nunez go, maybe others”, emails Nigel Guest. “Robertson is fading, so we need another left back. Salah desperately needs a good backup. He can’t keep playing every minute. Otherwise, it depends who else leaves.”
Yep, certainly a bonafide right winger is needed, as well as a right back if/when Trent Alexander-Arnold departs. I would personally keep Robertson for his experience and buy a top younger left-back for him to mentor, such as Bournemouth’s Kerkez or Fulham’s Antonee Robinson. Maybe sell Tsimikas, although the Greek is dependable. Another excellent centre-back, to challenge Konate and Van Dijk would be prudent, if they can afford that. The goalkeeper situation is interesting, given Giorgi Mamardashvili is going to join this summer from Valencia.
Enzo Maresca, Chelsea’s manager, speaks to the cameras:
We have to try to manage the emotions. We have regained our momentum by winning some games. We are playing against winner players with winner mentality, so I expect a tough game.
Liverpool fans, your side have just cantered to the league title. In what position/positions would you like to see the club invest in over the summer? And who would you get rid of?
Answers to the usual place: michael.butler@theguardian.com.
Jacob Steinberg’s preview to our late kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
Here’s an extract:
The response to Karius’s mishaps was more ruthlessness. A goalkeeper was needed and Liverpool went for it in the next transfer window, paying £66.8m to sign Alisson from Roma. They were not hanging around. Alisson was 25 and elite. Remember his save in Liverpool’s win over Napoli in December 2018? They would not have won the Champions League without that intervention. Liverpool were rewarded for their seriousness; the mentality monsters built on becoming European champions by charging to their first league title in 30 years.
Chelsea, who have the second-youngest squad across Europe’s top five leagues and are monitoring the 19-year-old Ajax left-back Jorrel Hato, should take note. They will give Liverpool a guard of honour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon and face a team with stability at their core. Van Dijk, now 33, is still the defensive rock and has signed on for two more years. Alisson, at 32, remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It is a simple equation: buying the best usually makes you the best.
Full-time at the Amex: Brighton 1-1 Newcastle. A decent result for Chelsea, that, with Newcastle dropping points. Diego Gómez missed a sitter to win it for Brighton in the 95th minute.
Huge news in the race for the Champions League: Newcastle have found a late equaliser at Brighton, with Alexander Isak converting a penalty kick. That game, now 1-1, is now into stoppage time and you can follow the closing moments here.
That’s what that goal does to the live table. A draw at the Amex and a win for Chelsea here will mean the Blues draw level on points with Newcastle, with three games to play.
A reminder that there were three Champions League semi-finals in the 2000s played out between these two sides (and one quarter-final in 2008-09).
Wesley Fofana aside, Chelsea are more or less at full strength, with Lavia’s re-emergence into the XI moving Caicedo to right back. A penny for the thoughts of Reece James on Chelsea’s bench.
Liverpool do make some changes: Quansah, Tsimikas, Endo, Elliott all start, but this is far from a makeshift side. And Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai and Mac Allister all lurk on Liverpool’s bench.
The teams!
Chelsea: Sanchez, Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella, Lavia, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Madueke, Jackson.
Subs: Jorgensen, Adarabioyo, Badiashile, Dewsbury-Hall, James, Gusto, George, Acheampong.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Tsimikas, Endo, Jones, Salah, Elliott, Gakpo, Jota.
Subs: Kelleher, Konate, Diaz, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Mac Allister, Chiesa, Robertson, Bradley.
Preamble
What a pleasure it is to report on a Premier League game where there is actually something at stake. Liverpool may have sewn up the league title last weekend, but things remain very much in the balance for Chelsea, who are wildly chasing Champions League qualification alongside Manchester City, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.
Three teams currently lie on 60 points, with fifth-placed Chelsea currently holding the final Champions League spot on goal difference. It’s squeaky-bum time for the Blues, who will be desperate to return to Europe’s elite competition after a couple of years in the wilderness of Conference League, etc.
There might have been sore heads at the start of this week but don’t expect Liverpool to be off the pace. Slot’s side have nothing tangible left to play for but many players will be nervously looking over their shoulders before the summer transfer window opens, hoping to retain their place for next season. The fringe players will be under the greatest pressure to make their mark, and Slot may field a fair few of them today.
The Reds did not spend heavily last year at all, and the manager has already mentioned he is eyeing fresh recruits.
It’s certainly an intriguing match between two giants of the English game, although not for the normal reasons.
Kick-off: 4.30pm BST.
