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Liverpool show why they are still the team to catch in Chelsea win

Liverpool show why they are still the team to catch in Chelsea win
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On Sunday, Liverpool recorded a highly comfortable 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. A brace from forward Sadio Mane helped the Reds to a victory that seems like a signal of intent in the title race.

The dismissal of Danish centre-back Andreas Christensen on the stroke of half-time was a factor in the win. A horrendous mistake from Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga also contributed to the result.

Liverpool in control before sending off

In truth, even before the sending off of Christensen, Liverpool were in control of the game. However, they had not yet found a cutting edge. The sending off obviously allowed Jurgen Klopp’s team more space to operate.

That extra space allowed Liverpool to win the game without much of a fuss. The Reds were arguably not at their best but still had enough quality to see off a team who had aspirations of challenging for the title this season.

Grinding teams down

The reigning English champions may not have been at their best, but they had enough quality to grind Chelsea down early in the second period. If they had wanted to go for it the Merseysider’s could have added to their goal tally. However, at two goals up the game was effectively won, despite Alisson having to save a Jorginho penalty in the second half.

The attack that saw Liverpool win the spot-kick was a rare attacking threat from a Chelsea team that struggled to threaten the visitor's goal, even when the Blues had their full complement of players.

Liverpool difficult to catch this season

The visitor's run away with the Premier League title last season. If they string together a winning run they could repeat the feat, especially as many rivals Manchester City have yet to play a league game and are already playing catch up.

This game showed that although Chelsea may be challengers for the Premier League title in the future, they are currently some way off Liverpool’s level of quality and cohesion.

Premier League
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Arsenal 77 34 24 5 5 56
2
Liverpool 74 34 22 8 4 41
3
Manchester City 73 32 22 7 3 44
4
Aston Villa 66 34 20 6 8 21
5
Tottenham 60 32 18 6 8 16
6
Manchester United 53 33 16 5 12 1
7
Newcastle United 50 33 15 5 13 15
8
West Ham 48 34 13 9 12 -9
9
Chelsea 47 32 13 8 11 4
10
Bournemouth 45 34 12 9 13 -11
11
Brighton 44 32 11 11 10 2
12
Wolverhampton 43 34 12 7 15 -8
13
Fulham 42 34 12 6 16 -4
14
Crystal Palace 39 34 10 9 15 -12
15
Brentford 35 34 9 8 17 -7
16
Everton 33 34 11 8 15 -12
17
Nottingham Forest 26 34 7 9 18 -18
18
Luton Town 25 34 6 7 21 -28
19
Burnley 23 34 5 8 21 -32
20
Sheffield United 16 34 3 7 24 -59

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