Chelsea were edged out by Liverpool in an entertaining Anfield showdown as goals from Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones swung it for the hosts in a 2-1 win.
Salah set the ball rolling from the spot before Nicolas Jackson raced through to score in the second half. But Chelsea were only level for three minutes, as Curtis Jones tapped in the winner to send Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League.
With plenty to delve into after a difficult day for Cole Palmer and Reece James’ first start for almost a year, Express Sport takes you through how each Chelsea player performed on Merseyside…
Chelsea player ratings vs Liverpool (3-2-4-1)
Robert Sanchez: 5
Didn’t do much to ease Chelsea fans’ nerves. Short pass was blocked by Cody Gakpo inside 20 minutes and could easily have resulted in Liverpool taking the lead. Looked to have given a penalty away with a tackle on Curtis Jones, but the decision was correctly overturned.
Reece James: 7 (Veiga, 53)
The skipper was brilliant on the ball in his first start since last December. By the time James was subbed off he had built a catalogue of dangerous crosses into the box and line-breaking passes. His rating took a hit when his poor attempt to play offside contributed to Curtis Jones’ winner.
Tosin Adarabioyo (booked): 5 (Badiashile, 53)
Lucky to avoid a red card like William Saliba on Saturday as a similar situation to the Arsenal man, in which he hauled down Diogo Jota, saw him shown a yellow. Chelsea looked frail defensively on the whole.
Levi Colwill: 5
Clumsy and tired performance. Colwill pushed his luck when Mohamed Salah went down and the decision went the Chelsea man’s way. He wasn’t so lucky moments later when he made contact with Jones and the referee pointed to the spot before Salah tucked away.
Moises Caicedo: 8
Not always the tidiest or most elegant but the Ecuadorian was Chelsea’s best player on a day when he was jeered by the Anfield crowd for picking the Blues instead of Liverpool last year. Drove forward with the ball, took care of his defensive work and assisted Jackson for the leveller.
Romeo Lavia: 6 (Fernandez, 53)
First appearance for almost a month. Calm and composed on the ball, effective with body feints just like his opposite number Ryan Gravenberch, but not particularly involved in the play.
Noni Madueke: 7 (Nkunku, 76)
Gave Andrew Robertson a tough time on Chelsea’s right-hand side and set up a good chance for Palmer in the first half, which he failed to finish from close range.
Cole Palmer: 5
The Blues’ talisman failed to step up to the plate on a daunting afternoon. Nothing went for him. A misplaced pass saw a Chelsea attack break down in the first period, he curled a great chance over just before the break, and later slammed a free-kick into the wall.
Malo Gusto: 7
Playing in the advanced midfield bank of four when Chelsea had the ball, Gusto was full of running, heavily involved in the game and up for tricky defensive duels against Mohamed Salah when he had to drop in at left-back.
Jadon Sancho: 6 (Neto, 45)
Combined well with Gusto and looked threatening up against Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Chelsea setting up tactically to try and isolate Sancho against the Liverpool full-back. Enzo Maresca turned to the pacey Pedro Neto at half-time to try and break Alexander-Arnold down.
Nicolas Jackson (booked): 7
Picked up another silly booking for trying to distract Salah before his penalty. But made up for it with tireless running into the channels, including one which saw him get onto the scoresheet in the 48th minute.
SUBS
Pedro Neto: 8
Made a big impact from the bench and gave Alexander-Arnold plenty to think about due to his ability to come inside or use his pace down the touchline.
Enzo Fernandez: 6
Minimal impact on the game after coming on with 40 minutes to play.
Renato Veiga (booked): 5
Picked up a yellow card for a terrible tackle on Luis Diaz. Missed a late header to equalise.
Benoit Badiashile: 7
Got the better of Darwin Nunez in a fiery duel.
Christopher Nkunku: N/A
Late introduction.
