Mauricio Pochettino claimed that Chelsea deserved to win against Liverpool in their Premier League opener earlier today (13 August).
The Blues fell behind to a Luis Diaz goal in the 18th minute. Mohamed Salah thought he doubled Liverpool’s lead against his former club at the half-hour mark, but his goal was ruled out for offside by the slimmest of margins.
Axel Disasi’s debut goal for Chelsea drew his team level with 37 minutes on the clock before Ben Chilwell’s goal was ruled out for offside four minutes later. The scoreline did not change after that, with both teams picking up a point in a 1-1 draw.
Chelsea had their moments, most notably in the fourth minute of stoppage time when substitute Mykhaylo Mudryk came one-on-one with Alisson. He rounded the Brazilian goalkeeper but took the ball too far out of the danger zone to inflict any real damage.
After the game, Pochettino was asked if the result was fair, to which he replied on BBC’s Match of the Day:
“I don’t believe it is [a fair result]. I think we deserved a little bit more overall. We feel pleased, but at the same time disappointed because we wanted to win and we deserved to win, but it is only the beginning.”
The Blues bossed possession at home, keeping 66% of the ball and managing four shots on target as compared to the Reds’ one.
Liverpool star impressed with the club’s two new signings after Chelsea draw
Liverpool splashed a combined fee of £105 million to bolster their midfield with the signings of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.
Given the dearth of options in midfield and the quality of the aforementioned duo, Jurgen Klopp started both of them in his midfield. They played the full 90 minutes and put in a solid shift in a midfield which lacked a natural No. 6.
After the game, captain Virgil van Dijk heaped praises on the duo and told BBC MOTD:
“Very good [on how the new signings are settling in]. I am very impressed with the guys, as a human being coming to a new club, it is good how they are coming in. Our group is a very family friendly club.”
Mac Allister made the joint-most tackles in the game (3) while Szoboszlai recorded the most key passes (3) in the game. Liverpool are eager to bolster their midfield and add a defensive midfielder to complement the duo.
Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo have been targeted but Chelsea are close to signing the latter on an initial eight-year deal, as per Fabrizio Romano.