(Premier League 2023/2024): Highlights Liverpool - Chelsea

It's these two again, red versus blue, a modern rivalry that's become as tight as it is niggly. Just a few days on from confirmation the pair will meet in yet another cup final. It's a Premier League meeting for Liverpool and Chelsea and a real test of how far Poch's improving young side has come during recent weeks. Arguably as hard a test as they could have right now. Liverpool have been winning even without the weapons-grade full-back pair, Alexander-Arnold and Robertson. They don't start but they are fit again for the bench. Dominic Sobosla is fit as well but he does start. No Salah for a while yet, Nunez and Xhota have been scoring enough of late though. The Blues have had about 48 hours extra rest following cup duty at the weekend. Poch has only changed one from the line-up against Villa on Friday. The defenders all bump a long one to accommodate Ben Chilwell. Good to see him back, not least because Liverpool generally struggle to handle him. Sterling one-on-one with Kennate, you know he's quicker than him. There's the layback. Go on, Conor Gallagher, that's got to be a penalty, isn't it? Paul Thien, he says no. They've got to be having a look at that. My instinct is that it's a penalty. We'll get a better idea here. It's not conclusive actually from that. It's not obvious. I'm looking at Van Dijk's right arm coming out here. McAllister, that's really well played. Nunez going for goal. That looked good when he hit it. It looked really good. Was there a touch? There must have been. It's quite wonderful stuff from McAllister, you've got to say. I mean that's through the eye of a needle stuff. Wonderful pass, lovely weight. It's a great instinctive effort as well. Takes it early, moving all over the place. Just brushes the fingers maybe. Benate saw one forward to Nunez. What a pass that is. On his left foot, off the post, by the glove. Petrovic twice onto the frame of the goal. That looked in. It's only a corner. Yeah, again, it's a brilliant bit of movement. This is another facet that he brings to this Liverpool side and I thought there was another touch in it. He just let it bounce and go across him and he still gets pretty good power on that. And direction. I think it's a brilliant save. That's just enough to tip onto the outside of the post. It's almost slight and Bradley lead the counter in charge. It's Jota. We don't want him shooting. We don't want him shooting because he's a lot better at it than Darwin Nunez. He's just bulldozed his way through. It's not the big number nine, it's the little number 20. And after a quarter of the game, Liverpool's pressure has told. Reds one, Blues nil. It's a strange goal in the end. You've got to admire the single-mindedness of Jota and the way that he sticks it away. There was a bit of hesitancy from the centre-halves, I think, when he received the ball because there was just a nice plethora of options for him either side. He was well found in the middle and just a bit of hesitancy there where they could maybe have come out and engaged. And then he gets a bit of good fortune, I would say, the way he wriggles in between centre-halves. I mean, is there suspicions of handball there? Maybe that's what Thiago Silva is saying. He got a toe to the ball, the Brazilian, and just ricocheted. He's got the chest on that viewing. So fortunate that it falls so perfectly for him on the six-yard box. Nunez going there. Curtis Jones curls it. That was going into the corner. Petrovic is there. Danger hasn't gone yet. There's Nunez again. He can't sort his feet out. And he's made some good stops here. And without them, we'd be in a lot more trouble, Sam. Yeah, I feel secure with him. There's a big hole here. Here comes Conor Bradley. It's promising. It's in. What a moment for Conor Bradley. Liverpool youngster gunning down that side. Homegrown, 2-0 and less. Well, they've got a decision to make because it's how Portini and the VAR team perceived this challenge from Jota, I think, on Chilwell. It could have been vice versa. There's a coming together in the middle of the pitch. Hence why there's the wide open space for Conor Bradley to stride into. It's a wonderful finish. He's not got a lot to go out here again. That's a great ball from Gomez van Dijk. Squaring it. Oh, he's given a penalty for that. Vardy Ashil with the challenge. Once again, we're hoping VAR bails us out. Yeah, well, my problem really potentially isn't going to be that the penalty's been awarded if there's the contact. It's the way Jota goes down. They won't overturn it, though, will they? I know it shouldn't be, but I'm just saying I don't think they'll overturn it. I'm not saying I think it's a penalty. Go to Petrovic. Big moment. He has missed again. Didn't even need Petrovic this time. To deny Darwin Nunez. That's good strength from Sterling. Virgil van Dijk stepped in and didn't win it. The ball's on for Mudric. It's played. Mudric! At the same end where he had such a great chance on debut. That one's a bit further off, as it turns out, than that initial effort all that time ago. There's quite a lot on that pass from Gusto, but he has to put pace on it. Just skipped up off the surface, but he doesn't really get the stride pattern correct, if I can get away with that. Terminology. Good cross. Savaslai nods it beyond debate. That's back to front in no time. It's a brilliant ball. It's a perfect cross. It's a bullet header. And it's 3-0 and game over. Yeah, a lot of it down to Conor Bradley again, I would suggest. He just kind of slowed Badia Shield down, and I think he bought it. The Chelsea centre-half just kind of momentarily switched off and allowed Bradley to get the run on him on the outside. Savaslai arriving from midfield. He's actually in a centre-forwards position throughout. 20 minutes. How much do you go for? How hard do you go? Well, the answer is a lot at the moment. There's a lot of blue shirts forward. Kunku here. Nicely done. Brilliant. He hasn't had many minutes on the pitch in a blue shirt. And now Chelsea will go hard, all right. They never keep a clean sheet, Liverpool. And Christopher Nkunku, just as he was after the long layoff, is back on the field with a goal. And that's never good either when you're cruising at 3-0. This will give a little seed of doubt to the Liverpool players. And I'll tell you what, I'm thinking, I'm quiet about it, but I'm thinking, just set it, just set it. Pick out a blue shirt. Doesn't listen to me. Wriggles wonderfully. Dzeko Maka and Modric. Some real promise here. Nkunku with the theatrics. He's still rolling. Paul Tierney immediately not interested at all. Let's hope there's something to look at that we didn't all see there. As Modric again crosses. And Liverpool just in danger of being a bit ragged here. It's on target from Gusto. Imagine that goes in. Imagine the next 20 minutes. Poch is asking the question. I suppose the question is, does Van Dijk kick through Nkunku? He may very well get some of the ball. He doesn't get anywhere near it. Is he trotting on his foot there? Jack Tote. Here comes Robertson. Trademark run from him. Oh, yes! He's hit the bar again. I don't know how he's missed that. I mean, he would have Harland numbers if he could finish even half decently. Now it's Elliott. He misses so many. Alexander-Arnold here. And still. And Alexis McAllister they're queuing up to shoot. McAllister here. Nunez. Drafting away to win it ahead of Thiago Silva. Diaz. 4-1. Well, he can't finish him, Darwin Nunez, but he's made that through sheer muscle, Sam. I guess you would appreciate what he did there. Yeah, and then the ball. The ball is amazing. Possibly, I don't know, Kambadia will do a little bit better on the far post. I'm not sure he can. Because the pace that he puts on it, the whip on it as well, it just favours the forward player. Diaz just arrives on cue. There won't be time for the free kick. They don't need it. They did this job a while ago. It's bad enough before the break, really. Schotter and Bradley on a half of fine margins. Could have been worse. Without Darwin Nunez, it probably would have been. And it did get a bit worse after the break. Diaz got the fall by the side of a smart finish from Nkunku. We're at a blue meet again at Wembley in four weeks or so, when hopefully it will be more of a contest than this one has been. 4-1 the final score.