Chelsea earned a draw against Liverpool at Anfield but can take some confidence from another achievement they managed on their trip to Merseyside on Saturday
Chelsea achieved something they had not managed all season in the draw at Liverpool(Image: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
Chelsea ended their six-game Premier League losing streak against Liverpool and achieved something they had failed to do under Liam Rosenior and Enzo Maresca this season. The Blues outran the opposition for the first time this term as they earned a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
The west London side sit ninth in the division with just two matches remaining in the 2025/26 season but still hold the opportunity to win the FA Cup final next weekend. That could offer some joy in a year that has seen a solid bump back to earth after claiming a Champions League spot, Conference League glory and a Club World Cup title.
Chelsea came back from a goal down on Merseyside as Enzo Fernandez’s free-kick avoided a multitude of players on its way into the net and cancelled out Ryan Gravenberch’s opening effort. In addition to running further, Chelsea edged out their opponents in terms of possession and number of shots as they failed to break their winless run in the league.
Calum McFarlane’s side covered 103.6km, according to Opta, in comparison to Liverpool’s 102.9km effort across their team. It is a sign there could yet be some green shoots for the Blues heading into their Wembley meeting with Manchester City.
Interim boss McFarlane, who is in charge until the end of the season, believes stopping the rot was a much-needed positive.
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“Yeah, this club needs to win games of football, and we haven’t done that today,” he said. “We’re not happy with the form and some of the recent performances. So, yeah, it’s nice to have a good, complete performance.
“It would have been better with a win, but when you come to these places, it’s really difficult. So, yeah, it’s positive.”
The result did not have the same positive slant for Liverpool boss Arne Slot as his side were booed at full-time. The Dutchman has been unable to get the same tune out of his team as he did in his title-winning debut season.
Asked whether he’d told his team to slow play down, he offered a sarcastic response: “Yeah, I said after we scored the 1-0 and then we got a big chance for the 2-0… didn’t you see me screaming off the sideline?
Chelsea outran their opponents Liverpool(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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“‘Go back, go back, defend your own box, defend your own box.’ Are you really thinking this is serious? Of course it’s not the idea for us to back off.
“We wanted to keep going but we played against a team that got more and more comfortable on the ball. They didn’t have any wingers available, so they had a lot of midfielders, so they controlled the midfield and started to play and [were] passing through us more and more and more, which didn’t lead to a lot of chances but they were by far the dominant team in the game.
“It was difficult to change that during the first half but I think you might have noticed as well, apart from other things you’ve noticed, that at half-time we changed things.”
“But I think it’s not fair to me that anyone could ever think that I tell my players to back off and to drop down and not to press them,” he added. “Either you haven’t seen my teams playing last season and large parts of this season, let alone since I’m a manager.
“But it did look like that, that we dropped down, but that’s never the intention. That was in this situation us not being able to control all the midfield.”
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