In the early morning of January 3, the 21st round of the Premier League's heaviest showdown began, with the Blues Chelsea sitting at home at Stamford Bridge to meet the Reds' Liverpool. In this campaign, both sides are remnants of the attack, Blues center Lukaku was kicked out of the big list due to his mouth, while Rees James, Cheek, and Werner also did not have the opportunity to play, while Reds coach Klopp was suspected of being infected with the new crown and did not have the opportunity to command on the spot, and he also had the same fate as the main goalkeeper Alisson, center-back Matip and forward Firmino. However, this does not prevent both sides from playing a wonderful game.
Chelsea rotated five players, with Havertz, Alonso, N'Golo Kante, Thiago Silva and Chaloba rotating. Liverpool's start came with three changes, with Milner, Conat and Kelleher on the line. The Reds had a smooth start, and in the 9th minute, Blues centre-back Chaloba made a mistake in breaking the siege, mane won the ball and went into the box to swing past the attacking Edouard Mendy to win the empty goal, and the Reds won 1-0 on the road. In the 26th minute, Alexander-Arnold sent a precise long pass, Salah burst into the box and fired a shot from a tight angle, making it 2-0.
Trailing by two goals, Chelsea began to fight back, and in the 42nd minute, Marcos Alonso's free-kick was saved by Kelleher, and the penalty area surgeon Vácic hit the ball and hit the right upright and bounced into the net! In stoppage time, The Rudiger midfielder successfully stole a steal, Kante passed Pulisic, and Captain America took the ball into the box and volleyed kelleher helplessly.
In the first half, the two teams fought a big offensive battle, and the scene was dizzying. In the second half, the two teams' backlines became the protagonists of the field, defusing many threatening attacks, especially the two team goalkeepers sent many heroic saves to save the goal. In this campaign, Edouard Mendy and Kelleher each made four saves, the former defusing Mane's powerful shot from the edge of the box and Salah's long-range hanging shot, while the latter struggled to block Pulisic's close volley.
In this campaign, Chelsea had 56% of the ball on the ball, scoring 2 goals on 6 of 15 shots. Although Liverpool only had 10 shots on goal, they also had 6 shots on target and scored 2 goals. It can be said that both teams have shown a very high level of attack and defense, and it is not an exaggeration to say that this game represents the highest level of the Premier League. However, the biggest beneficiary of the 2-2 score is not the red and blue armies, but someone else, that is, the leader Manchester City.
In this round, Manchester City, who took the lead in the 2-1 away game, reversed the Gunners Arsenal, although there was some controversy in the referee's decision in the game, but Manchester City's 11 consecutive wins were unquestionable, and this victory also allowed them to lead Chelsea by 11 points behind them, and Liverpool, who had one less game, was thrown away by Manchester City by 12 points. Therefore, this red and blue club, Chelsea and Liverpool can only target 3 points, and the draw can only be a lose-lose situation. However, after 90 minutes of fighting, they still can't get rid of this last-desirable result.
Next, Salah, Mane and Edouard Mendy in both teams will all play in the African Cup of Nations, while Chelsea will have to face Manchester City away from home after playing the League Cup and FA Cup, and if they lose the score, they will really have to see the latter's taillights.
However, Manchester City can ride the top of the table, and it is not all about their peers. They have played Chelsea and Liverpool this season, and have played three heavyweight games in eight days, in addition to the red and blue, Manchester City also face-to-face with Paris in the Champions League, and they are all away from home. Even so, City are not at all behind. They first beat Chelsea 1-0 away to avenge their revenge, allowing Tuchel's side to shoot 5 and 0 on target in 90 minutes. In the ensuing match against Liverpool, they stubbornly tied twice after falling behind twice, and finally split 2-2 with the Reds. It is worth mentioning that in terms of the number of shots on goal, their 12 shots are twice as high as the six shots of the far home team.
Judging from this season's record, Manchester City scored 53 points in 21 rounds, averaging more than 2.5 points per game. Chelsea and Liverpool, on the other hand, only averaged 2.0 and 2.1 points per game. Looking at the average scores of the other four league leaders, Real Madrid averaged 2.3 points per game in 20 rounds of 46 points, Bayern averaged 2.5 points per game in 17 rounds of 43 points, inter milan averaged 2.4 points per game in 19 rounds of 46 points, exactly the same as Ligue 1 leaders Paris, from this data, Chelsea and Liverpool want to compete for the title in the Premier League, it is indeed a little bit worse.