Chelsea 3–1 Liverpool Player Ratings: Chelsea Thrash Liverpool to Record a Huge Victory in Their Top 5 Hunt in Premier League

Chelsea registered a statement victory in their hot pursuit of Champions League places by thrashing Liverpool 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. Enzo Maresca’s men put in a great performance as Liverpool were in their party mood after sealing the title. Enzo Fernandez struck early for the hosts as he raced onto a cutback unmarked and picked his spot. Liverpool, despite finding their feet, weren’t able to find a way past determined Chelsea in the first half.

The hosts doubled their lead through a Jarell Qunasah own goal in the second half. Virgil van Dijk halved the deficit, but it wouldn’t have mattered as Cole Palmer scored a penalty in the 96th minute to seal the result.

Chelsea made light work of Djurgarden in the first leg of their Conference League semis midweek. It did them a huge favour as they can go into this massive league clash at full force without having to worry about the second leg. The Londoners need to win all their remaining games to finish in the top 5 for a Champions League spot. Their fixture run was extremely difficult, meaning they had to make use of Liverpool’s hangover from their title celebrations to get a win. Enzo Maresca’s big game record wasn’t encouraging, and the Italian manager had to pull something special.

Liverpool had nothing to do but savour the occasion as they received the first of their four guard of honours this season as the Premier League champions. After grinding 34 gameweeks, they could relax and enjoy the game. Arne Slot already revealed he would make changes to his lineup, indicating fringe players would get some much-needed minutes. They had an eye on breaking the 90-point barrier and nothing else.

Chelsea showed great hospitality to Liverpool by giving a guard of honour, but they turned hostile as soon as the game kicked off. They took the initiative and opened the scoring in the third minute through Enzo Fernandez. Cole Palmer started a flowing move and released Pedro Neto, who fired a cut back into the box. Fernandez ghosted into the box before collecting the ball and rolling it into the bottom corner past Alisson. Liverpool’s party mood took a hit as they needed to up their ante again.

The Premier League champions found their feet after a shaky start as they dominated the ball. However, they weren’t able to create clear-cut openings as Chelsea defended incredibly well. The hosts had their moments on the break as well, but they couldn’t make it count.

Liverpool’s period of dominance ended without producing anything tangible as Chelsea repelled them excellently. The Blues took a halftime lead into the tunnel as well. They needed to see out the game with their lead intact to have a hope of finishing top five in the league.

The hosts began the second half positively and doubled their lead just 10 minutes into the half. Pedro Neto was the instigator yet again as he twisted and turned past Kostas Tsimikas before firing a dangerous cross in. Liverpool tried to clear it hurriedly as Virgil van Dijk fired a poor clearance into Quansah, and the ball bounced into the net. Chelsea were in a very good position and needed to avoid any silly mistakes.

Liverpool needed an injection of pace as they introduced Darwin Nunez and Conor Bradley to draw a response. It was Virgil van Dijk who was making amends for Liverpool as he halved the deficit. The Dutchman climbed over Chelsea’s defence to power home a header in the 84th minute to set up a nervy finale. However, it turned out to be just a consolation as Liverpool couldn’t find another goal.

Dominik Szoboszlai made a poor back pass as he forced Qunsah into a poor tackle that resulted in a penalty. Cole Palmer stepped up to score the penalty and break his recent goal duck. It sealed the result for the hosts.

Chelsea recorded a huge win in the league to end their winless run against Liverpool. These points could help them secure the Champions League spot they so desperately crave. Chelsea host Djurgarden in the reverse leg of the semis and expect to get the job done next. The Premier League champions suffered just their third league defeat of the season with a poor performance. Liverpool return to Anfield as the champions of the land when they host Arsenal next.

Here are the player ratings for Chelsea vs Liverpool.

Chelsea Player Ratings

GK- Robert Sanchez- 6/10

Covered his angles to save an early curler from Cody Gakpo. Failed to make a save as Van Dijk scored past him.

RB- Moises Caicedo- 6.5/10

Playing as a makeshift right-back, he was tormented multiple times by Cody Gakpo, who took him on the inside and outside for fun. Made some decent runs to help the attack as well.

CB- Trevoh Chalobah- 7/10

He was a solid presence inside the box as he marked Jota well and dealt with numerous crosses coming in.

CB- Levi Colwill- 7/10

Did well under pressure from Liverpool as he fired multiple passes to break Liverpool’s high press. He was fine defensively as well.

LB- Marc Cucurella- 7.5/10

His primary duty was a defensive one as he had to look after the dangerous Mohamed Salah. Did a fairly good job as Salah got the better of him only a few times.

CM- Romeo Lavia- 6.5/10

Lavia got a chance to show his quality against the side he was so close to joining last season. Had a couple of iffy defensive moments but recovered well.

CM- Enzo Fernandez- 8/10

Darted into the box unmarked and collected the ball beautifully before dispatching it to make it 1-0. Showed his expansive range of passing.

RW- Pedro Neto- 8/10

Fired in a superb cutback for Enzo Fernandez for the first goal. Created multiple chances whenever he had the ball on the right. Created the second goal with a fine cross.

CAM- Cole Palmer- 8/10

Looked sharper and better than in the previous games as he fought to win the ball back and play some smart passes. Broke his duck with a well-taken penalty.

LW- Noni Madueke- 6.5/10

Had a lot of tracking back to do as he wanted to help Cucurella with Salah. Did enjoy some fine dribbles when he had the ball.

ST- Nicolas Jackson- 6.5/10

Made a great run and was fouled by Alisson, but he was offside, hence cancelling all the good work. He was chasing plenty of long balls and forcing actions from Liverpool.

SUB- Jadon Sancho- 6/10

SUB- Malo Gusto- 6/10

SUB- Reece James- 6/10

Manager- Enzo Maresca- 7/10

His side were braver in their approach against a top side and they reaped instant rewards as they opened the scoring early. There was a visible change in how they defended as well.

Liverpool Player Ratings

GK- Alisson- 6.5/10

He was helpless as Enzo Fernandez had a lot of time to pick the bottom corner for the first goal. Made some crucial saves late in the game.

RB- Trent-Alexander Arnold- 5.5/10

Saw a lot of the ball and was roaming all over the pitch to create openings for his side. Madueke gave him plenty of problems.

CB- Jarell Quansah- 4/10

Had a rare league start and looked shaky at first, especially while dealing with crosses. Grew into the game to assert some dominance. Conceded an own goal unfortunately. Forced into a poor tackle that resulted in a penalty.

CB- Virgil van Dijk- 6/10

The Dutchman made a crunching challenge to win the ball in the first minutes, but was caught flatfooted as Chelsea pushed forward for the opener. A poor clearance resulted in an own goal.

LB- Kostas Tsimikas- 6/10

Had a bittersweet time with Pedro Neto as he was beaten for the first goal. Did make some crucial interventions against the Portuguese as well.

CM- Curtis Jones- 6/10

Tried to progress the ball, but he was rusty from a lack of game time. Could’ve released the ball a bit sooner in attack. Lost track of Enzo Fernandez for the first goal.

CM- Wataru Endo- 7/10

Protected the defence by sitting in front of them. Displayed his ball-playing prowess by spreading it well and joining the attack as well.

RW- Mohamed Salah- 6/10

Started the game with an intricate move with Harvey Elliott, but he was unable to trouble Marc Cucurella later on.

CAM- Harvey Elliott- 5.5/10

Gave the ball away a couple of times cheaply as he struggled for fluency in the attack.

LW- Cody Gakpo- 6.5/10

Looked Liverpool’s best attacker as he constantly drove at Chelsea’s defence, firing crosses and shots at will.

ST- Diogo Jota- 5/10

Waited in the box patiently for service as Trent struggled to pick him out at times. The linkup play was a bit lacking as well.

SUB- Darwin Nunez- 6/10

SUB- Conor Bradley- 6/10

SUB- Dominik Szoboszlai- 6/10

SUB- Alexis MacAllister- 7/10

Played some smart passes and supplied van Dijk with an assist from a corner.

SUB- Federico Chiesa- 6/10

Manager- Arne Slot- 5/10

Rotated his team like he said in the pre-game press conference. There were quite a lot of tactical tweaks visible, as well as the Champions already starting to look forward to the next season. His players weren’t in the right spirits and understandably so.

Sportsdunia’s Player of the Match goes to: Pedro Neto