Chelsea knocked Liverpool out of the League Cup in a round one victory. But Jurgen Klopp’s men won the tactics going into the main event.
Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea is still a work in progress. They have been a fantastic work in progress at times and a passable one at others. They were not supposed to be the finished product for months yet but the results have been far ahead of their time.
So there is a cloud over how to view what the team is doing. It is clear that they are not fully up to speed. It is clear Sarri is not satisfied with the performances yet. But the Blues keep winning.
Jurgen Klopp was the latest to be on the losing end to Chelsea. It was the undercard heading into the main event that is the Premier League fixture, but it would be hard to say that both managers did not want to win both matches. Yes, the sides were rotated, but even with the rotations some of the same tactics are likely to pop up in both matches. And Klopp won the day tactically for all it is worth.
Klopp’s biggest masterstroke happened in the first 30 minutes. It was to contain. Not to press as would be expected by Klopp’s side but just to absorb pressure and look for counters. Liverpool sat deeper to create space. When they won the ball back, they would use all that free space to counter. But they were not forcing the issue.
That changed around the half hour mark and only ramped up after half time. Chelsea had gotten comfortable with their possession and they were suddenly hounded with every pause of the ball. This caused players like Andreas Christensen and Cesc Fabregas to start making simple mistakes under pressure. Ultimately, Cesar Azpilicueta giving the ball away under pressure led to the first (and only) goal by Liverpool.
Sarri showed his hand with his substitutes. A manager that puts on Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante is a manger who only has eyes for the win. Neither changed the game entirely, though Hazard’s wonder goal was something to behold. The Blues just about pulled themselves over the line with that Hazard goal and a set piece goal before it.
But Chelsea can count themselves lucky to have left Anfield with the win. Liverpool had at two least “you have to score those” type of chances. They had one shot bang off the bar. And, rightly or wrongly, on another day a ref would have given them some of the “handballs” Chelsea kept having. All that is to not even consider if Alvaro Morata was offside for the set piece goal (that gets into a whole interpretation minefield).
Chelsea did play well when Liverpool allowed them to but failed to capitalize on the chance. It took a set piece and Hazard pulling the rabbit out of the hat to win. Luck is one of those intangible qualities of tactics that can often work out in the right way. It did for Sarri, but he will need to go watch the tape and prepare for whatever other tricks Klopp has up his sleeve.