With a loss at Stamford Bridge in the books, we take a look at what it means for Arne Slot’s Reds.
Fresh off the back of being crowned champions of the English top flight for the 20th time, Liverpool traveled to London to face a Chelsea side with everything to play for as they are still trying to cement their Champions League place for next season. The Reds, well, they looked like they had been partying most of the last week and letting off steam while they played a match with no implications to them. The Reds were carved open in just the third minute and struggled to really play with any drive or consistency throughout most of the first half. Liverpool began to open it up in the second half, but were undone by an unfortunate own goal. Virgil van Dijk clawed one back late, but Liverpool were again undone by a self-inflicted would to hand Chelsea a penalty and a goal in extra time.
Below, we take a look at some winners and losers on the night, and attempt to disentangle narrative from fact.
Winners
Guard of Hono(u)r
Liverpool received their first of four (4) guards of honor after being crowned as champions of the Premier League. It was great seeing the squad walk out to the tepid applause from the Chelsea players and boos from the Chelsea supporters. It would be the loudest the home supporters would be all match.
The Traveling Kop
Stamford Bridge has long been know to be a BYO atmosphere kind of stadium. The Liverpool faithful made sure to bring the noise, singing their hearts out while going through the full songbook despite their side playing like most of them were still hungover.
Endo
The Japanese midfielder was his usual energetic self at the base of the midfield trio after being given a rare start. Endo, not normally know for his passing range, sprayed the ball around from deep several times with pinpoint diagonals. He also made a goal line tackle to initially deny a goal before Virgil van Dijk blasted it off of Jarell Quansah for an own goal.
Losers
Cole Palmer’s Hair
Oof, c’mon man. That’s not even bad in an interesting way, it’s bad in a boring way. You can do so much better.
The Scousers in the Team
It was not a banner day for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones. The two local lads were well off the pace . Trent never really found his passing boots, misplaying more than his fair share of balls. Curtis Jones was caught on the ball and dispossessed three times, and he also got rolled in the leadup to the first Chelsea goal.
Jarell Quansah’s Luck
The defender will be held accountable for the second and third Chelsea goals, though it would be hard to truly blame him. The second goal saw Virgil van Dijk attempt to blast a clearance that went off the youngster from close range and into the net for an own goal. The third was a really poor square pass from Dominik Szoboszlai into the box that had no pace on it with Moises Caicedo steaming in. Quansah had to react quickly and just caught the toe of Caicaido as the Chelsea player barely got to the ball first, drawing a penalty that was converted by the poorly coiffed Cole Palmer.
Dissecting the Narrative
Let’s be honest, the match did not in any way matter for Liverpool as a club. More than anything, it served as a rare opportunity for some of the reserve players to get match action. With a significant amount of turnover expected this summer, several of these players might be playing for a spot or more regular role in the squad next season. Below are some of the players not mentioned earlier in this piece.
Harvey Elliott again showed some flashes the potential he has to unlock defenses with his vision and passing, but we also saw some limitations to his play when the role requires him to be the runner rather than the passer (and Trent Alexander-Arnold wanting to sit in a similar space). There’s definitely a great player in there, but it may require the side to play a specific way.
Kostas Tsimikas again showed promise with his whipped crosses, generating five key passes to well surpass anyone else in the side against Chelsea. On the other end, however, he all too frequently did not close down attackers to allow crosses to come in on the defensive side.
Diogo Jota was again a ghost for most of his time on the pitch. The central striker role has been a weird one under Slot, but Jota just doesn’t seem quite like his old self.
Darwin Núñez was his usual ebullient self after coming on as a sub, but he continued to be bereft of confidence and composure in front of goal. He had a free header that he got completely wrong when going for a flick and then managed to get caught from behind in the box when in on goal.
Conor Bradley was dynamic as a runner down the right, frequently beating a man and getting a dangerous delivery into the box. He still gets caught out at times and beaten too easily around his own box, but the biggest questions is if he can stay healthy for any stretch of time.
Frederico Chiesa got on the pitch and ran around for a few minutes. That’s really all there is to say, unfortunately.
What Happens Next
Liverpool will receive their next guard of honor back at Anfield next Sunday when they face Arsenal. With the title wrapped up, the Reds can still play spoiler to teams in the hunt for Champions League places.