With a 4-1 rout of Chelsea on Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp’s squad surged five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Twenty-year-old Conor Bradley scored his first goal for Liverpool and claimed two assists. Darwin Nunez missed a first-half penalty shoot despite putting on a good showing for Liverpool, which also included goals from Diogo Jota, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Luis Diaz. However, the hosts were fortunate not to give up a penalty themselves as Chelsea had two strong appeals turned down.
“I don’t think you can have an outstanding team performance when the individuals don’t work together. The start was brilliant, we were really going for them,” Klopp told the BBC. “We were outstanding, it was a top game.” Liverpool has 51 points after 22 games and is undefeated at Anfield this season across all competitions. With a game remaining, Manchester City is tied for second place with 46 points, one point ahead of third-place Arsenal. At 31, Chelsea is ranked tenth.
Bradley became the youngest player from Liverpool to score and assist in a Premier League
Since Raheem Sterling, who played for Chelsea on Wednesday, almost ten years ago, Bradley became the youngest player from Liverpool to score and assist a goal in a Premier League game. “I just feel like I’m in a dream,” Bradley told TNT Sport. From the first whistle, Liverpool played with great intensity and Chelsea found it difficult to get out of their own half. This was Liverpool’s 200th victory under manager Jurgen Klopp, who confirmed last week that he will leave the team at the conclusion of the season. In the first half, Nunez hammered Chelsea’s goal with seven attempts, but Jota broke the tie in the 23rd minute by dribbling past two Chelsea players after receiving a pass from Bradley.
In the 39th minute, Bradley, who has been outstanding since being given a starting spot due to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury, sent the Anfield crowd into a frenzy with an angled strike into the far corner following a strong run. “What a wonderful kid he is,” Klopp said. “Outstanding finish, the whole game, the contribution, the involvement. It’s a job to play against Sterling, that’s not easy. I’m really happy for him… that was pretty special.” In the 65th minute, the youthful Northern Ireland player left a defender in his trail before curling a precise cross that Szoboszlai leaped to head beyond Djordje Petrovic.
“We just gave everything that we had, the first 11 and the guys who came in. We showed our quality and 4-1 is a good result,” Szoboszlai told the BBC. “(Bradley) just put the ball on my head so I didn’t really have to do much. We are really happy to have him because he showed many times that he is ready to play. Christopher Nkunku pulled one back in the 71st but Liverpool’s Diaz replied eight minutes later.
In contrast to Chelsea’s four, Liverpool’s 27 shots were on goal, with 12 of those coming from Nunez, who also struck the crossbar with a first-half penalty. The Uruguayan made Premier League history by becoming the first player to hit the woodwork four times in a game since 2003–04.
Two penalty requests by Chelsea were denied; both were reviewed by VAR. The first occurred after Virgil van Dijk tackled Conor Gallagher, and the second occurred when the Dutch defender seemed to kick Nkunku.
“It was bad luck for us,” Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said. “But that doesn’t change the feeling Liverpool were better than us.”