Chelsea – Liverpool: Pochettino Makes Encouraging Start (1-1)

Liverpool took the lead early on against a Chelsea defense still finding its feet, but the home side were able to hit back in the first half and ended up taking the initiative as the game went on. Mauricio Pochettino found a tactical arrangement with a 3-4-3 shape in possession which posed problems for Liverpool, although Chelsea were ultimately unable to convert this into a win.

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

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Sunday evening saw a match between two teams who had already done battle off the pitch earlier in the week, as Chelsea and Liverpool both competed for the signature of Moisés Caicedo. Chelsea have continued to spend big this summer, bringing in the likes of Nicolas Jackson, Christopher Nkunku, and Axel Disasi amongst others. Liverpool meanwhile have tried to strengthen the midfield after some departures, with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai joining the squad.

Mauricio Pochettino has been tasked with integrating this transformed Chelsea squad into a cohesive side. Fitness has also been an early focus for the Chelsea boss, with players complaining that they had been underprepared physically last season. Chelsea’s defensive shape for this game was a 4-4-1-1, with a back four of Reece James, Disasi, Thiago Silva and Levi Colwill. Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell were the wide midfielders, with Enzo Fernández and Conor Gallagher central. Carney Chukwuemeka then supported Jackson up front.

Jürgen Klopp meanwhile lined his side up in a familiar 4-3-3 shape. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, and Andrew Robertson were the back four. In midfield, Klopp faced a lack of natural defensive midfield options, and ended up using Mac Allister as the deepest midfielder with Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo either side of him. Up front was the trio of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, and Luis Díaz.

Liverpool’s early threat

The away side were able to go ahead before twenty minutes thanks to Díaz’s goal, brilliantly assisted by Salah’s throughball. Salah himself got in behind the Chelsea defense and had a goal disallowed shortly afterwards. This early period of the match saw Liverpool’s better attacking moments in the game before they faded away as the game went on.

Klopp once again deployed Alexander-Arnold as an inverted fullback, as he began doing towards the end of last season. Alexander-Arnold would drift into a double pivot alongside Mac Allister, while Robertson stayed deeper on the left with Gakpo advancing high up in the number eight role ahead of him.

Chelsea defended in a back four with Colwill at left-back and Chilwell in midfield. Liverpool generally did not have long possession spells in this structure. 

Liverpool’s best moments came in transitions or situations where the Chelsea defense was otherwise stretched, with space to play into depth. The defensive coordination on Chelsea’s left side had some issues during the early exchanges, with Colwill in an unfamiliar left back role attempting to defend Salah’s movements from the right wing.

Pochettino’s possession game

Despite those sporadic early attacks from Liverpool, it was Chelsea who dominated the ball for most of the game. Pochettino’s influence on the team has already started to become clear in comparison to last season, and he did so with a slightly unexpected distribution of midfield roles.

Fernández had been used as the number six for much of his games at Chelsea last season, but here he was given a freer role. Gallagher was left as the lone number six in the second line, while Fernández was able to roam among the midfield zones, often into higher positions.

Behind Gallagher, Chelsea often formed a back three in possession, with Colwill moving into a very natural role as left center-back. Chilwell held the width on the left, as did James on the right. Chukwuemeka and Sterling then occupied the left and right halfspaces respectively.

James and Sterling found great space on the right for Chelsea, outplaying Liverpool’s defense on that side. 

Sterling in particular found some very testing positions for the Liverpool defense to deal with in the pocket between Van Dijk, Robertson, Mac Allister, and Gakpo. This, combined with James marauding threat on the right wing, led to Chelsea’s most dangerous attacks, and was an area of clear superiority for the home side.

Chelesa were able to feed passes into Sterling between the lines to run at the defense with James overlapping. Alternatively, they were able to find switches towards James on the wing, which were supplemented with well-timed underlapping runs from Sterling to stretch Liverpool’s defense.

Gallagher in his deeper role grew into the game, adapting well to what is a very challenging task against Liverpool’s pressing, even for players who are experienced in that position. He was not stunning on the ball in comparison to Fernández, who definitely impressed. However, Gallagher was typically tenacious in transition situations and covered ground well, something which is a demand in a Pochettino midfield.

Chelsea in control

The home side were able to equalize in the first half thanks to a debut goal for Disasi. They were in the ascendancy from that point, and continued to take control of the game in the second half. Liverpool’s pressing and transition threat faded, and they spent an increasing amount of time defending in their own half.

The left side of Chelsea’s attack became more active in the second half, after they had previously seen most of the threat come from their right. The problems that Chukwuemeka and Chilwell posed were somewhat similar to those created by Sterling and James in the first half.

Chukwuemeka began to find freedom in the left halfspace for Chelsea, while Liverpool found it difficult to stem the switches of play towards Chilwell. Chelsea used the width dynamics on both sides extremely well to get around the usually challenging Liverpool press. The problems faced by Liverpool were ones which are thematic for a back four against a well-constructed 3-4-3 attacking shape. Namely, it is extremely difficult to defend adequately in the halfspaces and width at the same time if the opposing forwards position themselves well.

Fernández in the second half dropped into the second line more often to give an extra connection alongside Gallagher. This stabilizing influence helped Chelsea to sustain possession spells for longer. Credit should also be given to Jackson, who proved a constant handful to the Liverpool defense with his smart movement.

Liverpool’s 4-3-3 arrangement sometimes became a temporary 4-4-2 shape in the defensive phase when defending deeper as Salah stayed slightly higher to gamble on counter-attacks, and Szoboszlai would shift out to the right to provide cover. Salah struggled to influence the second half compared to the first, and was eventually substituted, with youngster Ben Doak replacing him on the right.

Klopp replaced the Liverpool attack in its entirety over the course of the second half, with Curtis Jones, Darwin Núñez, and Harvey Elliot being introduced in place of Gakpo, Jota, and Díaz. This attempt to reinvigorate Liverpool’s attack was not overly successful, although Doak and Elliot did offer slight promise.

For Chelsea, Malo Gusto made his debut in place of James, while Ian Maatsen and Mykhailo Mudryk made energetic cameos when replacing Sterling and Chukwuemeka. Despite being better in the second half though, Chelsea were unable to quite carve out the chances needed to capitalize on this, and were only able to take a point in the end.

Takeaways

This game should give encouragement to Chelsea after the disaster of last season. Their possession game showed tactical promise, with key players such as Fernández, James, Chilwell, and Sterling integrating well into the system. Defensively there were some concerns early on, but Chelsea will surely only continue to improve as the squad gains familiarity.

Liverpool’s attack carried a transition threat in the first half as one would expect. The defensive issues that they have faced over the past year do not seem to be resolved though, as Chelsea were able to expose their backline in this game. The lack of a natural defensive midfielder was evident, leaving Klopp with work to do in the coming weeks.

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