Chelsea began life after Graham Potter with a goalless draw against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge that saw them fail to score at home for the fifth time in 2023.
Interim boss Bruno Saltor, thrust into the job after Potter was abruptly sacked on Sunday, proved no more able to get the hosts firing than the man he replaced as the depths of the team’s goalscoring problem were laid bare against a Liverpool side that also offered little.
It was a familiar story for an exasperated home support. Once again they witnessed their team expend bountiful energy and dominate in terms of chances created but fail to emerge with three points or reason to be optimistic.
The club began its search for Potter’s successor in earnest this week, with Luis Enrique and former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann the early front-runners. On this evidence, neither coach will relish the appointment.
Bruno’s had team started with voracious intent, determined to punish the smallest slip – and they did not have long to wait.
After five minutes, the ball was given away carelessly to Kai Havertz in Liverpool’s half and in a flash Reece James released Joao Felix, who ran at the heart of the defence. Some deft, delicate footwork took him inside Joel Matip as he entered the area, but the defender recovered to deflect the incoming shot to safety.
Chelsea had had 27 shots on goal in the defeat to Villa, and in the first 20 minutes here they bombarded Liverpool with attacks that came in waves.
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— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 4, 2023
First Ibrahima Konate was forced into a last-ditch slide to scoop Mateo Kovacic’s effort off the line after he had rounded Alisson, then Havertz was denied at point-blank range by the Liverpool goalkeeper when he arrived to meet Ben Chilwell’s cross.
Chelsea were flickering into life after Potter, but damning embers of their profligacy in front of goal remained.
James thought he had given his side the lead after 25 minutes, crashing the ball home through a crowd before VAR ruled offside against Enzo Fernandez.
On a rare positive note, N’Golo Kante – on his first start since August – put in an imperious first-half display that rattled Liverpool. The visitors struggled for oxygen amidst Chelsea’s relentless harrying of them.
They came alive at last in the final moments of the half. Joe Gomez tested Kepa Arrizabalaga with a whipped shot towards the corner which drew an acrobatic save, before Wesley Fofana made a decisive close-range block from Fabinho to deflect the ball wide.
Chelsea had struggled to convert chances under Potter and a frustrated Stamford Bridge witnessed the same story here.
Straight after the break Felix fed Havertz, and as the ball threatened to run away from him Kante took over and flicked it to Kovacic. With only Alisson to beat, he opened up his body and curled the best chance of the game high into the Matthew Harding Stand.
Fortune looked to have abandoned Chelsea. Havertz thought he finally had his goal when he burst through and found the net, but VAR again intervened, handball the decision as the ball bounced back off him from Alisson’s save.
From there, Chelsea’s threat died away to nothing as the prospect of another game without a goal or a win was slowly realised.
Fernandez whipped a tired shot way over the bar with the game’s last action. It was a fitting end to a trying night.
