Liverpool’s
familiar defensive fallibility ruined what was otherwise an excellent
attacking performance, which utterly mocked Chelsea’s now-fatally
wounded hopes of winning the Premier League.
A 1-1 scoreline was considered par for the course by many neutrals ahead of Saturday’s evening clash, but five key talking points emerged from the maelstrom of Anfield.
Not
worth the width without Moses
Antonio
Conte’s tactics rightly came in for some scrutiny in the aftermath.
Though finding himself with a lethal triumvirate of Liverpool
attackers, Davide Zappacosta endured a torrid evening at Anfield.
Ever faithful to his wingback system, Conte fielded a side that
lacked the balance Victor Moses would typically provide, placing
Zappacosta in Moses’ usual position.
Chelsea
were, ultimately, very fortunate to escape Merseyside with a point.
If the West London club was to have any realistic chance of closing
the gap on the Manchester clubs above them, then three Anfield points
were a must-have. Following Chelsea’s failure to take all three,
the markets for spread
betting with Sporting Index now
show a further reduction in the buy/sell price of a Chelsea title
win.
While
Chelsea are sufficiently talented to use of that system without Moses
in home against weaker sides, Conte must find viable alternatives for
places like Anfield.
Conte
must utilise depth sooner... and sell Drinkwater for his own good
Though
not a key part of Chelsea’s latest setback, Conte’s hesitancy to
make vital changes was cited as one of the reasons for his team’s
below-par showing. It took seventy-four whole minutes of football for
Conte to act upon Danny Drinkwater, who appeared a man utterly lost
amongst a sea of high-tempo Liverpool midfielders.
Within
ten minutes, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Davide Zappacosta had also exited
stage left. It was a curiously close-knit sequence of changes for
Conte, which ultimately reeked of desperation and belied his status
as a reigning title-winning manager.
While
some would argue that it is unfair to single Drinkwater out for
criticism, especially when Bakayoko
was culpable for
Liverpool’s goal, his overall performance showed exactly why
English players will never fit in at Stamford Bridge under the
current regime.For the good of his career, Drinkwater must move to a
club that will better benefit from the strengths he flaunted while at
Leicester.
NEWSFLASH:
Liverpool need a new centre back
The
nature of Willian’s equalising goal further embossed the existing
belief that Liverpool are nowhere near good enough to challenge for
the title. As a result of their collective failure to avoid defensive
mistakes at the worst moments, Liverpool continue to be linked with a
number of centre-backs to improve the current situation.
Southampton’s Virgil
van Dijk remains
interminably linked to an Anfield move, and the rumoured £70m it
will take to lure him to Merseyside appears to be a snip, when one
considers how often Liverpool’s attacking prowess is nullified by
avoidable errors.
Gomez
is the future of LFC
Dealing
with a front three containing Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard is never
an easy task, even on home soil. Yet, despite the glaring disparity
in playing pedigree between Gomez and those decorated two, the
Catford-born defender never once shirked his duty.
More clarity is needed on hand-ball offences.
Liverpool
could easily have been out of sight long before Willian’s
equaliser. Twice the Kop bayed for a penalty after a Chelsea handball
in the area, but to no avail.
The
subject of handballs – and how they differentiate from accidental
ball-to-hand flashpoints – is an age-old debate, but it is a
subject that now needs a clearer party line from the relevant
authorities.
Author
bio
A
graduate of Staffordshire University, Tamhas Woods has a wealth of
experience in sports writing and creating betting-related content.
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