Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0: Drab midtable clash ends in dull stalemate with sub Mudryk’s lively appearance only shining light
GRAHAM POTTER insists money can’t guarantee glory for his big-spending Chelsea.
Yet the £88million he splashed out on Mykhailo Mudryk already looks like it will give him a decent chance of it.
The Ukrainian winger made his Chelsea bow off the bench and produced the few moments of magic amidst the mayhem of an Anfield stalemate.
Mudryck, chucked on after 56 minutes, showed enough to suggest he will be a smash hit and could even have marked it with a winner, with a shot that hit the side netting.
But for the most part, it was a game where the league positions showed exactly where these two giants have fallen to – mid-table teams with no more than an outside chance of the top four.
Chelsea thought they had gone ahead after just two minutes, when a Conor Gallagher corner ended in Kai Havertz prodding in.
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Benoit Badiashile shuffled the initial delivery on to Thiago Silva, whose shot came off the post and Havertz poked in the rebound.
Had Silva’s strike gone in the goal would have been given, as James Milner was playing him on.
Yet when it came back off the woodwork, Havertz – virtually alongside his team-mate – was inches offside and Liverpool were off the hook.
It was a huge slice of fortune for Jurgen Klopp’s men, but if the Kop boss hoped it would be the warning which kicked his team into life, he was badly mistaken.
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Chelsea were the ones who continued to pose any serious threat, and it took a smart reflex save from Alisson to keep out Badiashile’s header from an Hakim Ziyech free kick.
Liverpool were lucky to go in level at half-time, so Heaven only knows what Klopp said to inspire them, because they were a different side after the break.
Suddenly they had Potter’s men pinned deep in their own territory and if Cody Gakpo had kept a cooler head, he’d have been celebrating his first goal in front of the Kop.
Mudryk’s introduction put Chelsea back on the front foot, yet really it was a game neither did enough to justify winning.
Champions League? You’re having a laugh… certainly as far as these two are concerned.
