Liverpool were forced to settle for a point with their draw with Chelsea on Saturday.
The Reds were held to a goalless stalemate at Anfield, with neither side managing to get on the score sheet. Kai Havertz thought he put the visitors in front early on, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are now 10 points adrift of the top four places having now played exactly half of their league matches. Next for Liverpool is their FA Cup fourth round tie against Brighton, before returning to league action away at Wolves on February 4.
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Plenty of national media outlets were in attendance to watch the draw with Chelsea. Here is a round-up of what they had to say.
Rob Draper, via Mail Online
“Jurgen Klopp knows how to extract the last squeeze of positivity from even the least-promising situation.
“It was remarked that this, his 1000th game as a manager in football, wasn’t perhaps a classic. ‘I think Arsene Wenger lost his 1000th game 6-0 so I am really happy,’ said Klopp. He beamed that big smile and you could almost believe things were turning a corner.
“This was the current World Champions versus the Champions League finalists; or tenth versus eighth: it depends how you sell it, what spin you want to put on the current manifestations of Chelsea and Liverpool.
“It felt more like early-season Carabao Cup. The respective injury crises at both clubs mean there was a smattering of stars, a few ageing pros and unfamiliar youngsters.
“And nothing says mid-table mediocrity than the underwhelmed silence that greeted the final whistle followed by the ripple of polite applause. This was not one of the great encounters between these two clubs.
“The quality of the game had a distinct middle-of-the-road feel about it. It certainly wasn’t as if two of the elite teams in world football were going toe to toe.
“Maybe the value of the subs hinted at that: an £89million winger came on as did an £85m striker. Neither made a huge difference.”
Jonathan Northcroft, via The Times
“His moment came in the 71st minute, from a cross from Hakim Ziyech. With the electric speed that had already made an impression on Anfield, Mykhailo Mudryk flashed on to ball and seemed set to score at the far post.
“However his touch nudged the ball the wrong side of the stick, and it was a game that none of the eye-wateringly expensive talents on the pitch could redeem from mediocrity.
“The £89 million Mudryk, a 55th minute substitute, was its greatest source of excitement with his bursts, aggression and unpredictability but even he could not take the chances that came his way.
“Nor could £85 million Darwin Nunez, a Liverpool substitute, or £40 million Cody Gakpo, or £71 million Kai Havertz.”
Andy Hunter, via The Guardian
“The 1,000th game of Jürgen Klopp’s managerial career will not be remembered with fondness, if it is remembered at all. ‘I heard Arsène Wenger lost his 1,000th game 6-0 so I’m really happy that didn’t happen,’ the Liverpool manager said.
“Klopp was determined to accentuate the positives despite his team, and Chelsea, illustrating why Champions League qualification may be beyond them.
“A flat goalless draw at a freezing Anfield did nothing to validate talk of a revival from either Klopp or Graham Potter, although both seized on any crumbs of encouragement they could find. For Chelsea, whose run of six Premier League away games without a win is their worst in over seven years, they came in an impressive second half display from new £88m signing Mykhailo Mudryk and another imperious defensive performance from 38-year-old Thiago Silva.
“For Liverpool, who remain without a league win in 2023, it was a second successive clean sheet and the return to fitness of Darwin Núñez. Slim pickings indeed.”
Sam Wallace, via The Telegraph
“As for Jürgen Klopp there are also injuries: no Virgil van Dijk, Luis Díaz, Diogo Jota, or Roberto Firmino. Klopp started with Cody Gakpo as a central striker and Harvey Elliott high on the left side.
“He gave a first team debut to 18-year-old Spaniard Stefan Bajcetic, whom his manager said had run through the door of opportunity to get his place in the team. With short sleeves and socks around his calves, in a biting Mersey wind, the teenager did a good job of shielding his defence. Defeat would have been a catastrophe for either manager, who chatted together amicably on the pitch before the game.
“For Klopp these were the “small steps” that he demanded after those debilitating back-to-back Premier League defeats by Brentford and Brighton. For Graham Potter, however, the Mudryk arrival, as well as the promising performance of Benoît Badiashile alongside the masterful veteran Thiago Silva, possibly offered the greater cause for hope.”
And the ECHO's Paul Gorst in his match verdict writes:
That Liverpool were able to 'celebrate' moving up the table to the dizzy heights of eighth as Chelsea remained rooted in 10th summed up the depths to which both clubs have plummeted during this difficult campaign.
And while Graham Potter continues to have high-profile, big-money signings foisted upon his bloated, unbalanced squad, Jurgen Klopp has the entirely opposite problem to deal with as his efforts to negotiate one of the toughest periods of his Anfield career without any significant investment outside of a £37m deal for Cody Gakpo go on.
Chelsea started this one with Benoit Badiashile (£35m) and Marc Cucurella (£62m) as players brought to the club in the last two transfer windows and were able to sub in Mykhailo Mudryk (£88m) and Carney Chukwuemeka (£20m) in the second half as they searched for a breakthrough.
Klopp was able to name Gakpo from the start and call on Darwin Nunez from the bench but he has been forced, in the main, to continue operating with the same players.
In a transfer window that has seen the demands for at least one new midfielder perhaps reach peak levels, it was telling that it appears to have arrived in the form of 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic, who was signed two years ago from Celta Vigo for £200,000. The demands on the teenager, as a result, could become unfair as he continues to learn his trade at the elite level but this was another encouraging performance from him here at least.
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