Chelsea and Liverpool fire blanks to settle for a point apiece

In the 50,000th top-flight game in English football, Liverpool and Chelsea battled it out to a fast-paced 0-0 tie, marking the first time this match ended in a stalemate three times in a row.

The Blues got off to a rousing start and attempted to take the lead just before the three-minute mark when Kai Havertz poked the ball in from a corner. The goal was disallowed because it was determined that the German was just barely offside. Throughout the first half, Chelsea maintained control of the tempo while Liverpool fought desperately to get into the game. The Blues would have taken a sizable lead into halftime if they had been more effective in front of goal. But that was not the case, and Graham Potter's team will have been extremely irritated by the deadlock at HT.

While the second period was fast paced, with both sets of players keen on finding the opening goal, the quality in front of goal was sorely missing. Liverpool enjoyed short spells of second-half dominance, but their frontline looked short of fluidity and it was Chelsea new-boy Mykhailo Mudryk's introduction just past the hour mark that kick-started the contest, though the scoreline remained untouched.

A Trent Alexander-Arnold effort was mis-hit and sliced wide in the final ten minutes, epitomizing the frustration in the final third for both sides on the day. The hosts had a late surge in an effort to snatch the points, but the cool heads of Thiago Silva and César Azpilicueta ushered the Chelsea rearguard over the line with aplomb to secure a hard-fought road point.

Despite failing to impress and pick up all three points, the result ensured Liverpool avoided losing their first three league games in a calendar year for the first time since 1953. However, the Reds could end the round as many as 12 points outside of the top-four.