Anfield is never the easiest of places to go to, whether they’re in good form or not, the fans will always create an atmosphere in the big games and make it a tricky 90 minutes for their opponents.
Tuesday night was no different for Chelsea. Fortunately for the Blues, a win was never a necessity, even before kick off, plenty would have taken a point if it had been offered to them.
On a night that Arsenal dropped three points at home to Watford and Spurs drew 0-0 at Sunderland, even if Chelsea had lost, it wouldn’t have been detrimental to the way the table shapes up.
One thing was clear to see on Tuesday night, the differences between Antonio Conte’s Chelsea side and Jose Mourinho’s.
The game mirrored the infamous game during the 2013-14 season where Liverpool were chasing the title and the Blues arrived to spoil the party.
Under Mourinho, they sat deep, rigid and set up in a defensive manner that would allow them to merely see out the game. The Blues’ first goal of that game will go down in Premier League history, Steven Gerrard handed the ball on a plate to Demba Ba, you know the rest.
The fact is, Chelsea were lucky to get that goal. It was a mistake from Liverpool that gifted them the opening in a game that Liverpool dominated.
We saw a performance of that ilk all too many times in the big games under Mourinho. Manchester United fans will remember losing at Stamford Bridge during Chelsea’s title-winning season when they had more than 80% possession.
Under Conte though, these are different performances, in a different system too.
At Anfield on Tuesday night, Chelsea set up to counter, as they have done for the majority of the season, but their counter attacks are deadly and clinical.
With N’Golo Kante in midfield, David Luiz’s range of passing, a rejuvenated Nemanja Matic, the Blues looked like they could switch defence to attack with a touch of a button.
Despite Liverpool’s apparent dominance in the game, the Reds only had three shots on target. The goal aside, they never looked like threatening Thibaut Courtois too much.
Their 62% possession can easily be overlooked with Chelsea having the clearer chances out of the two sides, as well as Diego Costa missing a penalty.
Under Mourinho, it always felt too much like a back against the wall performance. Like they’d scrape over the line, just. While there were some defensive mishaps at Anfield, there is plenty of time for Conte to improve the defence’s personal over the summer.
There was no bringing John Obi Mikel on in the second half to tighten things up, instead, the Italian was attacking in his substitutions, swapping Eden Hazard for the more direct and energetic Pedro, as well as bringing on Cesc Fabregas in an attempt to pick holes in the Liverpool defence.
It may be unfashionable but this current Chelsea team, under Conte has developed a much more clinical and ruthless nature about them. They have a directness about them that can still be implemented alongside playing good, efficient football.
The Italian knew the importance of this game and he knew the importance of avoiding defeat, that shone through in his post-match celebrations with the fans. This was a huge stepping stone in Chelsea’s title race, but this was by no means parking the bus.
