Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea: Honours even in Anfield stalemate as Kai Havertz has an early goal disallowed

World champions versus Champions League finalists; or tenth vs. eighth. It depends on how you sell it, what spin you want to put on the current Chelsea and Liverpool rallies. To be honest, it felt more like the start of the Carabao Cup season. The respective injury crises at both clubs mean there were some stars, some aging professionals and some unknown youngsters.

Nothing says mid-table mediocrity like the overwhelming silence that greeted the final whistle followed by a wave of polite applause. This was not one of the great meetings between these two clubs. The quality of the game had a clear feeling of tenth against eight. It certainly wasn’t like two of the elite teams in world soccer were going head to head.

Only the transfer fees attached to the players would have revealed to the game that these are two superpowers. Chelsea’s £89m signing Mykhailo Mudryk came up, nearly breaking through the Liverpool defense to score a dramatic opening goal in the 63rd minute and then almost conceding a deep cross in the 71st minute. . £40m Cody Gakpo maintains Liverpool’s forward line at present and £85m Darwin Nunez has been brought on to add support.

Liverpool and Chelsea played out a 0-0 Premier League draw at Anfield on Saturday

It was a competitive encounter as both sides enjoyed periods of pressure but lacked quality.

Kai Havertz thought he had opened the scoring for Chelsea after playing home on 3 minutes

However, following a VAR check, the Chelsea striker was found to be offside and his goal was disallowed.

There were moments of little drama, most notably when Kai Havertz hit a shot in front of The Kop in the first minute and Chelsea celebrated with gusto and length. Only for Anfield to roar with schadenfreude when VAR finally ruled him out for offside after a long delay. It was the closest we got to a real emotion. And we would be cruelly deluding ourselves if we thought it was an auspicious omen.

There was Hakim Ziyech setting off on a maze-like run through goal on the hour, slipping past five players and then deflecting his shot over the crossbar. Or Naby Keita with a super ball to Mo Salah just before the break that left the Egyptian free and into space, Salah, with a goal in his last five, shot over the bar.

But mediocrity screamed two teams in transition. Whether it was a rare miss from Alisson conceding a corner or Carney Chukwuemeka tripping over his own feet in the box as he advanced, it was not a game to go down in history.

Benoit Badiashile should have opened the scoring, but Alisson made a great 5-yard save.

The Reds wasted in the final third with Mo Salah guilty of wasting a chance in the first half

Chelsea youngster Lewis Hall impressed in midfield with his energy and drive throughout.

Chelsea’s £88m new signing Mykhalio Mudryk was introduced in the second half by Potter.

What positives could Graham Potter and Jurgen Klopp take from this? Their defensive structures at least seemed a bit more secure. For Chelsea, Benoit Badiashile looked expert and at home, having lost in a Premier League contest, even if he is not a truly elite one. Ziyech was a bit more like the winger who played for Morocco in the World Cup. And James Milner is… well, James Milner. Seasons go by, but he’s still essentially the same dependable player he was at 16, and these days he plays competently at right-back rather than attacking midfield.

But what we know is wrong with teams is still wrong. Liverpool’s midfield, be it the more experienced aging stars or the youngsters brought in to replace them, remain a shadow of the powerhouse that propelled them to three Champions League finals.

The new signing revealed his undoubted talent on the left wing of the Blues

Mudryk fired into the side netting after showing quick feet to get past two players in the box.

Chelsea have little in attack. His big bets are Romelu Lukaku, unfortunately currently on loan at Inter, and Pierre Ermerick Aubameyang, who came off the bench without significantly increasing the quality of the game. Havertz is the best they have. And he’s not good enough, at least as a center forward. In midfield, Lewis Hall did commendably for an 18-year-old and Jorginho kept things together. But the latter seems too old and the former too young to represent any real force, while Conor Gallagher, despite the initial energy, seemed a bit lost.

Neither can get much out of a goalless draw, just soft positives about stopping the flow of bleeding and restarting the second half of the season. At an ice cream lunch at Anfield, that was the best he could get.

Liverpool improved a lot in the second half and dominated the first quarter of the half

It was an entertaining match but both sides lacked some quality in the last third