Chelsea inflicted Liverpool’s first defeat of the season with a brilliant comeback victory in the Carabao Cup. The Blues fielded a different team when compared to the one that faced West Ham United last weekend. Goals from Emerson Palmieri and Eden Hazard got the job done.
Liverpool had taken the lead in the second half through old boy Daniel Sturridge but the goal of the night belonged to Hazard.
The Belgian didn’t start the game but this win showed that Maurizio Sarri is improving Chelsea game by game.
Our next clash is against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and some of the players were heroes on the pitch. Here are the player ratings from the game.
Willy Caballero – 8/10
The former Manchester City keeper kept us in the game with a string of fine saves, though he could be blamed for the goal we conceded.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6.5/10
The Spaniard gave the ball away for the goal we conceded and hasn’t looked as rock-solid as he did in the previous seasons.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
Cahill hasn’t played much under Sarri but he provided a good show at Anfield against a decent attack.
Andreas Christensen – 5/10
The Dane struggled and should have been punished for a horrible back-pass but Sturridge missed a sitter.
Emerson Palmieri – 6.5/10
Despite the goal, Emerson looked a little off the pace and struggled to deal with Xherdan Shaqiri, who was Liverpool’s best player.
Ross Barkley
Ross Barkley – 6.5/10
The Englishman had the chance to impress but didn’t do all that well. Barkley gave the ball away a number of times but he tried his best to make an impact.
Mateo Kovacic – 7/10
This was a better performance by the Croatian as he was careful in possession and made a few quality passes.
Cesc Fabregas – 7/10
Another player who was responsible for the goal, Fab looked a little slow on the ball but he still pulled the strings well in the midfield.
Victor Moses – 6.5/10
Moses didn’t wow anyone with his performance but was a threat out wide for us.
Alvaro Morata – 5/10
Another poor performance from the Spaniard as he missed a glorious chance to score in the first half and does not seem to look confident in front of the goal at all.
Willian – 5.5/10
The Brazilian wasn’t as consistent as usual and didn’t have a great evening at Anfield, despite creating a couple of great chances.
Substitutes
Eden Hazard – 8/10
We possibly have the best attacker in the Premier League and Hazard was brilliant once he came on in the second half. The Belgian beat four Liverpool players before rifling in a shot to score past Simon Mignolet.
N’Golo Kante – 7/10
The Frenchman did his normal bit in the midfield for the side.
Read more: Not Hazard – Barcelona plotting winter window move for 27-year-old Chelsea star
David Luiz – 6/10
Luiz did a decent enough job replacing Christensen and didn’t make too many errors to speak about.
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Chelsea are set to have Callum Hudson-Odoi fit for the Liverpool clash during the midweek (via Daily Star h/t Metro). While most of the attention on him was due to the handball incident, he was taken off at half-time, very likely due to an injury concern.
Later, it was shown that the youngster was sitting on the benches with an ice pack strapped around his left thigh. While Thomas Tuchel did confirm it was a minor injury, he also said that the winger was taken off for tactical reasons.
‘[He was] a little bit injured. The reason [he was replaced] was a tactical reason and a little injury, a combination, because we switched to a back-five in defence and covered the wide position from [Marcus] Rashford in between [Cesar] Azpilicueta and Reece James. In the second half, that was not an option to use Callum there and that’s why it was a tactical choice.’
However, he is now making good progress with his injury and could be in line to face Liverpool on Thursday. The only other injury concern remaining is Thiago Silva and he is likely to miss the game.
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Hudson-Odoi has prominently featured in Thomas Tuchel’s plans and been deployed at wing-back so far. The 20-year-old has done well in that role after overcoming his problems in the Southampton game. Tuchel will be hoping to have him fully fit for the vital game.
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Tammy Abraham wanted by West Ham as Chelsea future hangs in the balance
According to Daily Star, Chelsea ace Tammy Abraham is being eyed by West Ham as a possible summer target. West Ham are also looking at Eddie Nketiah and Ivan Toney as other possible signings.
Tammy Abraham’s future is in limbo after being left out of the squad against Manchester United. The academy graduate is mulling over a new contract but wants to see whether Chelsea commit to signing Erling Haaland in the summer.
West Ham have a dearth of strikers after letting go of Sebastien Haller in January and not being able to sign a replacement. They even had a move for Youssef En-Nesyri turned down. However, the Hammers want to bring in one striker to provide competition and support for Michail Antonio.
Chelsea are also in a spot with Abraham, given he is their top-scorer this season but has featured much less under Thomas Tuchel. The German manager has preferred to use Olivier Giroud as well as Timo Werner.
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While Abraham may yet have more than two years on his existing deal, it looks increasingly likely that they could let him go. The Blues are actively pursuing Haaland and that could push Abraham further down the side. There is no shortage of interest in the striker, with Aston Villa also said to be interested.
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Chelsea transfer boost as St. Etienne prepare Lucas Gourna-Douath sale
According to FootMercato (h/t The Sun), St. Etienne are ready to sell Lucas Gourna-Douath, who has been linked to Chelsea. The French side are willing to sanction a deal for the 17-year-old if a bid of £22million comes in.
As one of the rising stars in Ligue 1, Gourna-Douath has become a vital part of St. Etienne. He has already played for the senior side 23 times this season. A deep-lying central midfielder, manager Claude Puel wants him to stay at the club for a long time. Even the player is interested in the same.
However, due to the economic impact of the pandemic, the French side are willing to let him as well as a few more players, go. The club sold the likes of Wesley Fofana and William Saliba in the summer and it could continue with Gourna-Douath.
There will be competition for the Blues though, with AC Milan and RB Leipzig also interested in the youngster. The player’s representatives are preparing for any possible move including one to England.
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While Chelsea don’t really need any more central midfielders for the first-team, Lucas Gourna-Douath can be a good addition to their flourishing academy. Chelsea have promoted players from the academy in recent times and the same could be followed for him in case Chelsea can strike a deal.
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AC Milan to make Fikayo Tomori decision at the end of this season
According to Football.london, AC Milan are likely to sign Fikayo Tomori on a permanent basis at the end of the season if he continues to impress. The Chelsea academy graduate went on loan to the Italian side in January and Milan have an option to sign him permanently next season.
Tomori found game time hard to come by under the latter days of Frank Lampard. With the arrival of Thiago Silva, Tomori was sidelined as Kurt Zouma was preferred ahead of the English starlet.
AC Milan came for his services and took him on loan till the end of this season. However, they hold a £26.6m to-buy clause which they can choose to exercise at the end of the season.
Tomori has impressed massively for the Milan giants and it looks very likely that he could make the move permanent in the summer. Milan director Paolo Maldini, who was instrumental in securing Tomori’s signature, spoke about a permanent move for him.
“Fikayo has particular characteristics, intensity, speed. In our opinion, it was a possible reinforcement for this season finale. There is an option to buy, it is very high, it will be an assessment between now and the end of the season whether to exercise it or not. It is a fairly clear situation.”
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New manager Thomas Tuchel has mostly used the likes of Silva, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger and Cesar Azpilicueta at centre-back. It looks very likely that Tomori has no future at Chelsea. With his impressive showings for Milan, the club are also very likely to make his stay a permanent one.