What an afternoon! After Arsenal’s total implosion at Bournemouth over the weekend, the Reds found themselves in a position to go four points clear of the Gunners ahead of the clash at the Emirates next weekend. City “found” a way to squeak past Wolves on Sunday afternoon, thanks to a last-gasp winner; however, it was never in doubt for me. City’s victory meant that nothing less than three points would do if the Reds wished to remain at the top of the league. Arne Slot’s Redmen lined up with three notable changes to what one might have assumed to be the starting XI: Kelleher in goal for the injured Alisson, new father Curtis Jones replacing an overworked Alexis Mac Allister in midfield, and Cody Gakpo coming in for a well-traveled and presumably weary Luis Diaz on the left wing. A lovely fall afternoon on Merseyside saw a vibrant contrast of red and blue take the pitch, the Kop belting out Gerry’s anthem, John Brooks preparing to show the world why he is unfit to officiate a geriatric chess tournament, and away we went.
It only took six minutes for John Brooks to begin his onslaught against fair sporting competition, as a beaten Chelsea defender, Tosin Adarabioyo, tackled Diogo Jota at midfield, chasing a through ball hit over the top by Mohamed Salah. A clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and identical to what we saw Arsenal’s William Saliba sent off for on the South Coast less than 24 hours prior. The tackle saw the defender land with his full body weight on the Portuguese forward, injuring his ribs in the process and forcing the Reds into an early substitution (although Jota was able to carry on until the half-hour mark). However, all the above was deemed only worthy of a yellow card by Brooks, who was just beginning his laughably abominable performance. Chelsea took a decent grip of the match in the middle period of the first half, with long spells of possession that the hosts were content to concede. This possession resulted in little chance creation, and a foray forward from the Egyptian King saw him hacked down not once, but twice by the overpriced Levi Colwill inside the penalty area; again, John Brooks smirked and shook his head. The unsurprising lack of competence on display set Anfield to boil, in a sequence that harkened back to memories of Mikel Arteta attempting to square up to Jürgen on the touchline several seasons ago.
The next Liverpool break saw Salah again cutting onto his left in the penalty area, before firing a shot that pinballed between an advanced Curtis Jones and the pair of Chelsea center-halves just outside of the six-yard box. The ball settled at the feet of Jones, who was unceremoniously hacked to the ground once more by Colwill, a challenge that not even John Brooks could ignore. The official reluctantly pointed to the spot, and despite the feigned outrage from the Chelsea man, the Reds had (finally) won a penalty. Up stepped the Egyptian King, who sent Sánchez the wrong way to put the Reds 1-0 up at the Annie Road End, just prior to the half-hour mark. Darwin Núñez then entered the game for the injured Jota, with Liverpool beginning to click into gear. Just two minutes later, Cody Gakpo seemed to have put the Reds 2-0 up, before being (rightly) denied by the flag of the linesman. It was now VAR’s turn to get involved in further tarnishing the integrity of the game, after Curtis Jones was suplexed in the penalty area after nutmegging a floundering Sánchez. This was later deemed to be clean, as a loose strand of fabric on the sock of Sánchez was judged to have made contact with the ball prior to the MMA move that had Jones flipping head over heels. Cole Palmer was able to register his first shot of the afternoon just prior to halftime—a decent chance that ended up sailing harmlessly over the Kop end net. With that, the Reds took the 1-0 lead into the interval, despite being denied two blatant penalties and a Chelsea sending off.
Chelsea found themselves level just two minutes into the second half through Nicolas Jackson, with the Blues’ first shot on target of the afternoon. A bizarre passage of play saw Jackson clean through on goal following a simple through ball, and the Senegalese made no mistake with a composed finish into Kelleher’s near post. A lengthy VAR check showed the left boot of Big Ibou keeping Jackson just onside, and just like that, all the hard work done to grasp the lead had evaporated. Wild celebrations ensued in front of the away end, and before I had time to fully process the amount of rage I was stifling for the game being level, the Reds were back in the lead. Salah was once again allowed to cut onto his left foot, this time outside of the area, before whipping a delightful, cultured ball across the Chelsea box. Late runner Curtis Jones found himself completely free at the far post, and after taking a heavy touch with his left foot that nearly sent me into meltdown, the Scouser then stretched brilliantly and flicked the ball with the outside of his right boot beyond the reach of the onrushing Sánchez and into the Kop end net. The Kop exploded, Anfield was bouncing, and the Reds had reclaimed the lead with 40 minutes left to play.
Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister, and Joe Gomez were brought on to help the Reds see out the game. Despite a decent amount of Chelsea pressure, the Blues found themselves again unable to create any golden opportunities. A late free kick saw a half-chance headed high from Renato Veiga, and a good cross to the back stick saw a stretching Nkunku unable to redirect the ball on frame, but apart from that, the visitors’ pressure was largely toothless. Despite John Brooks finding a phantom seven minutes of added time caroming around his hollow skull, the Reds held on, and the full-time whistle brought a roar from the Anfield crowd that could only mean one thing: the Reds are still top of the league.
Arne Slot’s side are back in action midweek as they take on RB Leipzig on Wednesday night in the Champions League. With the fixture at the Emirates looming next Sunday, Slot’s team selection will be interesting. With the fixtures now coming thick and fast, team rotation will be vital if we are to keep our best XI healthy and remain in what is seemingly on the verge of becoming yet another title race. Regardless of what’s to come, it’s been a fun ride thus far, and long may it continue. Up the Piss Boiling Redmen!
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