Liverpool Vs. Chelsea Live: Reds, Blues Draw On David Luiz, Georginio Wijnaldum Goals

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Jan 31, 2017

Final, 1-1: The referee blows the final whistle. The game ends in a draw.

The teams settle for a point apiece after a pulsating draw at Anfield. Both Liverpool and Chelsea could have won the game, with Costa missing from the penalty spot and Firmino heading a tame shot on goal minutes before the final whistle.

Luiz’s remarkable free kick had given Chelsea an early lead against the run of play. Liverpool largely controlled the contest, and Wijdnaldum’s header gave the Reds their reward for doing so.

The result, combined with the outcome of other games, strengthens Chelsea’s pursuit of the Premier League title and weakens Liverpool’s. First-place Chelsea leads fourth-place Liverpool by 10 points with 15 games remaining in the season.

That’s all for now, and thanks for joining us. Let’s discuss this one on Twitter @NESNsoccer and Facebook. Be sure to keep an eye out for some news, fan reactions, analysis and opinion coming up on NESN.com/soccer.

Postgame analysis of Liverpool vs. Chelsea >>

How Luiz tricked Mignolet on the free-kick goal >>

90th minute, +3, 1-1 Michy Batshuayi replaces Costa, as Chelsea makes its final substitution.

90th minute +1, 1-1: Firmino has a free header, but his effort goes straight at Courtois. It’s another chance Firmino should have converted into a goal.

90th minute, 1-1: Liverpool makes another substitution, with Divock Origi replacing Lallana.

90th minute, 1-1: Pedro curls a shot narrowly wide of the far post, as Chelsea come close to scoring a late winner.

86th minute, 1-1: Costa dribbles deep into Liverpool’s penalty area and crosses into the goal-mouth, but Mignolet stops it before Pedro can arrive at the far post.

83rd minute, 1-1: Cesc Fabregas enters the game for Chelsea, replacing Willian.

76th minute, 1-1: Mingolet saves Costa’s spot-kick.

Mignolet has a penchant for stopping penalty kicks.

76th minute, 1-1: Costa wins a penalty for Chelsea. Matip tripped Costa inside the Reds’ penalty area.

75th minute, 1-1: Mane is coming on for Liverpool. He replaces Philippe Coutinho.

72nd minute, 1-1: Chelsea makes its first substitution. Hazard exits, with Pedro replacing him.

It’s a like-for-like change, and Pedro probably will position himself on the left side of Chelsea’s three-pronged attack.

68th minute, 1-1: Chelsea ends Liverpool’s period of control with a chance. Willian drags a shot wide of the far post. Costa nearly reached his effort, but it rolled in front of him before he could redirect it.

63rd minute, 1-1: Wijnaldum’s goal has galvanized the Reds.

Lallana shot wide a minute or two ago, and now Emre Can receives Milner’s pass inside the penalty area and shoots. A Chelsea defender blocks the effort to ease the pressure. For now.

59th minute, 1-1: Milner receives a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Moses.

57th minute, 1-1: Wijnaldum heads Liverpool back onto level terms.

Milner headed a deflected pass into the goal mouth. The ball took another deflection, this time off Moses. Wijnaldum arrived first and headed past Courtois from close range.

51st minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Moses beats Milner on the dribble and shoots at the near post, but his effort is wide of Mignolet’s goal.

50th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Dejan Lovren shoots from distance but misses high and wide.

49th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Firmino wastes a golden opportunity to tie the game.

Adam Lallana and Wijnaldum created the opening with some fine counter-attacking play.

46th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: The second half is under way.

Chelsea trainers bandaged Luiz’s left leg at halftime. He’ll try and play through the pain in the second half.

Halftime, 1-0 Chelsea: The first half is over, with Chelsea leading by a goal.

Luiz’s surprise strike was the difference in a tight and cagey first half. Liverpool controlled the first 20 minutes but couldn’t translate its dominance into goals. Chelsea capitalized on its one opportunity to score. Mignolet will take a lot of blame for not being focused at that fateful moment.

Nevertheless, Liverpool must be sharper and more purposeful when going forward, while also maintaining its balance. Chelsea likely will look to capitalize on counter-attacks, and the Reds don’t want to expose themselves to the danger Willian, Eden Hazard and Diego Costa undoubtedly pose.

45th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: The referee shows Jordan Henderson a yellow card. The Liverpool captain had been yelling at him about something over the course of the last few minutes. Apparently, he has gone too far.

39th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Milner fires a long-range shot over the bar.

33rd minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Courtois bats a free kick into his goal-mouth, but a Chelsea defender clears the danger before any Liverpool player can reach it and shoot.

32nd minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Luiz is down clutching his hamstring. He might not be able to continue. Veteran center back John Terry leaves the bench and begins warming up.

29th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: Willian’s free kick reaches the six-yard box where Luiz and Gary Cahill narrowly miss redirecting it before Mignolet can bat it away.

26th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: The Reds will be utterly disappointed to concede there. They outplayed Chelsea for the first 20 minutes and were defending comfortably.

25th minute, 1-0 Chelsea: David Luiz puts Chelsea in front with an unexpected free kick.

Simon Mignolet was still setting up his wall when Luiz ran forward and curls his shot past the Liverpool goalkeeper. Luiz caught Mignolet and the other Reds off guard.

https://twitter.com/ek_samosa_dena/status/826530073658339335

Luiz hadn’t scored for Chelsea in three-plus years. Granted, the Blues sold him to PSG in summer 2014 before buying him back last August on transfer-deadline day.

21st minute, 0-0: Chelsea has made another surge down the right, as Willian combines with Victor Moses. Joel Matip ushers Willian’s attempted cross out for a throw-in. Chelsea now is awake.

19th minute, 0-0: Liverpool fullback James Milner blocks Willian’s shot from the edge of the penalty area, preventing Chelsea’s first attempt on goal from reaching the target.

18th minute, 0-0: Chelsea manager Antonio Conte appeared to be agitated on the sideline. The referee had to calm down Conte, and he even shared a hug and a chuckle with Klopp.

15th minute, 0-0: Chelsea finally has managed to string together some passes, but Liverpool deals with it easily. The Reds have shown good organization and alertness when defending.

12th minute, 0-0: Georginio Wijnaldum hits a long-range shot on target, but Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois dives to his left and punches it away.

11th minute, 0-0: Still Liverpool. The Reds’ pressing has prevented Chelsea from establishing a foothold in the game.

Sixth minute, 0-0: Liverpool remains in full control, but its moves break down because the final ball lacks the sharpness required to unlock Chelsea’s defense.

Third minute, 0-0: Liverpool has controlled possession and territory in the opening minute, without creating any goal-scoring chances.

Chelsea looks comfortable defending deep in its own area.

Kickoff, 0-0: Liverpool vs. Chelsea is under way at Anfield.

https://twitter.com/LFCXtra/status/826520588994932738

Pregame: Here are the starting lineups:

Liverpool

Chelsea

Before the game, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp explained why Sadio Mane won’t start.

“He’s ready. We had really important sessions in training for the past two days, which he wasn’t part of,” Klopp said, per The Guardian. “But he was there this morning and he told me ‘I’m ready, boss’.”

2:30 p.m. ET: Liverpool and Chelsea are set to meet Tuesday at Anfield.

The Reds and Blues are two of the Premier League’s biggest rivals, and Tuesday’s game will be consequential for these teams and their other rivals for the league title and places in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

Chelsea is in first place with 55 points after 22 games. Liverpool is in fourth with 45 points from 22 games.

Here’s what you need to know about the potentially seismic clash.

Liverpool-Chelsea will kick off at 3 p.m. ET. Join us right here for all the action at Anfield.

How Liverpool vs. Chelsea will affect EPL title race >>

Thumbnail photo via LiverpoolFC.com

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