The Premier League fixture at Stamford Bridge continued a similar theme to the other recent meetings between Chelsea and Liverpool in that competition, as we repeated the goalless stalemate that was played out at Anfield in January to make it four draws in a row against the Reds.

• Watch the highlights of our draw with Liverpool

• Bruno explains move to three-man midfield

• Havertz rues small margins against the Reds

However, on this occasion, there seemed little doubt which team was on top on the night, as we created the better of the chances and were unlucky not to find the opening goal, having hit the back of the net twice only to have it ruled out by VAR on both occasions – firstly for a narrow offside against Enzo Fernandez in the build-up to Reece James’ sweet strike and then a handball when Kai Havertz bundled in his own rebound.

We managed 12 shots to Liverpool’s seven and, while the Reds had one more on target (four to three, although obviously not counting our two which went in only to be chalked off) it is significant that 71 per cent of the visitors’ efforts were from outside the box, while 75 per cent of ours came inside the area.

Bossing midfield

A slight change to our shape by interim head coach Bruno Saltor for his first game in charge of Chelsea resulted in an extra body in midfield, as we lined up in a 3-4-1-1 formation, with the Spaniard explaining after the game it was aimed at exploiting where the spaces would form against this particular opponent and their familiar 4-3-3 system.

That saw N’Golo Kante – returning as captain for his first start since August due to injury – lining up alongside Mateo Kovacic, with Enzo Fernandez taking up a deeper role behind them. With the two Blues veterans pushing forward and pressuring Liverpool in possession, that denied Jurgen Klopp’s team a route out of defence through the middle of the pitch, while giving our January signing room to dictate the game.

It is no surprise then that Enzo had more touches on the ball (100) and made more passes (89) than anyone else on the pitch. In fact, only Kalidou Koulibaly (97 touches and 80 passes) was anywhere close.

The Argentinian also seemed to have freedom to make use of that space to go more direct when the opportunity presented itself, with forwards Havertz and Joao Felix, plus wing-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell, willing runners in behind Liverpool’s high defensive line. Enzo’s 14 long passes was again comfortably the highest number of any outfield player, ahead of Koulibaly and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson with nine each, and our No5 had a decent success rate, finding a team-mate with nine of his attempts.

That solid base provided by Enzo sitting deep also allowed Kovacic and Kante to roam further, hunting the ball and joining attacks. Only our front two of Havertz and Joao Felix managed more than Kovacic’s two shots, while Kante’s three key passes was the joint highest, level with Chilwell, and only Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella had more than the Frenchman’s three successful tackles.

Joao the launch pad

Bruno also explained that we had opted for Havertz to operate as the focal point, with Joao Felix as a No10, occupying the space between him and the midfield to create a diamond in the centre of the pitch.

The aim was clear, as the Portuguese international was often the one being found with the quick passes forward to start our attacks, especially on the counter, when his skilful and direct running on the ball would allow him to put Liverpool’s defence on the back foot before linking up with Kai and continuing his run in beyond him.

The effectiveness of that strategy was shown in the numbers, as Havertz and Joao Felix’s four shots each was twice as many as anyone else on the pitch. Joao’s five successful dribbles was also the joint highest, along with James.

If you can judge the danger a player is posing to the opposition by the way he is treated by their defenders, it is clear Joao Felix unsettled Liverpool, as he was comfortably the most fouled man on the pitch, being stopped illegally five times. In fact, three of Liverpool’s four yellow cards – for Fabinho, Konstantinos Tsimikas and Joel Matip – were issued for fouls on Joao Felix.

If that has given you some inspiration of how things might pan out in our next game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 8 April, you can put it to good use to win some fantastic prizes in our Play Predictor game.

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