Analysis: How Salah and Jones made the difference against Chelsea

Alex Keble analyses Liverpool's 2-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield.

Liverpool have passed their first major test under Arne Slot and risen back to the top of the Premier League table - and yet Chelsea have just as much cause for optimism after a rousing, gritty and evenly-matched 90 minutes at Anfield.

Goals from Mohamed Salah and Curtis Jones – the outstanding players on the pitch – sealed what supporters will understandably see as a deserved three points for Liverpool.

But Chelsea had their moments, fought right to the end and showed a tactical dexterity to suggest Enzo Maresca’s side are the real deal.

Here’s a look at how Liverpool beat Chelsea and why it could so easily have been a different story.

Salah and Jones play starring roles

In an encounter that lacked a clear tactical narrative, it was individual performances that ultimately made the difference.

Nobody played better than Jones, whose all-action role in central midfield significantly helped Liverpool keep a lid on the midfield battle.

Jones’s forward runs led to one penalty that was overturned by VAR and, of course, the matchwinning goal, but there was a lot more to his game than that.

He recovered the ball six times and created two chances, with no Liverpool managing to do either more often.

Salah was just as sharp, scoring the penalty and assisting Jones’ winner in a typically searing performance from the right wing that clearly formed a big part of Slot’s initial game plan.

He received long passes over and over again from goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and the Liverpool defence, presumably in an attempt to take advantage of Malo Gusto’s movement into midfield.

Salah passes received

Key: Green line = pass received, yellow line = pass received leading to assist

Both Gusto and Levi Colwill lost that battle repeatedly, including in the build-up to both Liverpool goals.

As we will come to, Liverpool’s tactical plan for the match was far from perfect, but it doesn’t need to be when Salah, in the form of his life, is on the pitch.

He now has five goals and five assists in eight matches, the most ever by a Liverpool player at this stage of a Premier League season.

Maresca's changes nearly pay off

Had Salah been on the Chelsea team, they probably would have won.

Chelsea’s pass completion rate (88.1 per cent) is the highest on record (since 2003/04) by an away team in a Premier League match at Anfield and the Blues had more touches in the final third, more touches in the box and more possession than Liverpool.

Liverpool v Chelsea stats   Passes into final third Touches in opp. box Possession Liverpool 91 18 43% Chelsea 137 27 57%

“We don’t like to lose, but if you have to choose a way, this is the way you want to drop points,” Maresca told Sky Sports, praising his team’s performance.

The head coach deserves credit for this. His 3-2-2-3 formation seemed to surprise Liverpool, with Gusto playing alongside Cole Palmer to make a midfield box (see image below) that outnumbered Liverpool’s two-man midfield in a 4-4-2.

That four on two was sometimes an issue for Liverpool, while the high positioning of Liverpool’s front four created space for the Chelsea wingers.

That tactical shape worked relatively well for Chelsea in the first hour, albeit with Liverpool defending resolutely, which is why Maresca went for a major disruption with a flurry of substitutions early in the second half.

Four changes in the first eight minutes of the half caused a lot of chaos.

We saw wingers swapping round, Renato Veiga dropping into a deeper No 6 position and Enzo Fernandez joining Palmer as a No 8 and frankly a host of odd movements as Chelsea threw the kitchen sink.

The disorder drew Liverpool out of their structure.

This image below is typical of the strange Liverpool formation for the final 30 minutes, caused by Chelsea’s own wildness.

Slot influence clear as Liverpool wrestle control

But Chelsea did not quite do enough. In fact, they didn’t really create any big chances to equalise, while Palmer had arguably his quietest match in a Chelsea shirt.

Praise, then, goes to Slot for putting together a Liverpool team able to slow the match down when needed and find control even in trying circumstances.

This was most noteworthy when they took the lead in the first half, after which Liverpool killed the game with glacial possession until half-time.

As we’ve covered, they found this harder to do in the second, but the speed with which they surrounded Palmer in the final third (he created just once chance, having created 10 across the two league matches preceding it) is a testament to Liverpool’s defensive resolve.

There was always a chance Chelsea would pull Liverpool into a chaotic game, and although the hosts were indeed yanked into strange shapes, they held their nerve, pushing on the breaks when they could – and getting the job done.

Put simply, they passed the test.

As for Chelsea, they lost, but in their own way they passed the test, going toe-to-toe at Anfield to prove they will be a real threat this season.