Thread by @babuyagu

Absolutely no surprises with this XI. I think this is Klopp's 'big game' XI this season replacing Milderson+Gini from this time last year.

I had hoped Ox would get a sneaky start as I think his explosiveness in midfield would cause Jorginho an absolutely nightmare though.

https://twitter.com/MelissaReddy_/status/1175779355194212355

What are your thoughts on this though Reds?

https://twitter.com/MelissaReddy_/status/1175781007611637760

Chelsea XI is also interesting. Gutted Kante is fit for this - he ruined us in the Super Cup. Though think Gini will fare better than Milner did that day. Mount also makes it. Looks like he is reverting from a back 3 to a back 4 also.

Emerson also makes it after picking up an injury with Italy that kept him out.

That is a very inexperienced triangle at the back of Kepa - Tomori - Christensen, relatively speaking. We are so used to having an old head (or several) such as Cech, Carvalho, Terry, Cahill etc.

https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1175790605890441229

5 minutes to kickoff. Just enough time to watch this 5 times.

Kepa's throw there put Emerson into a spot of bother. He doesn't seem to have the power to make a javelin throw. Hendo had too much time to get across for when the ball arrived.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Willian down holding his ass. Looks like Virg gave him a kneeing as he closed him down.

Great dummy by Salah, Hendo plays a diagonal ball in behind Azpi who just manages to get a toe on it at full stretch. Bit more height and whip on that ball and Mané was 1v1. Brilliant play by Salah & Hendo though.

Chelsea struggling to play out against our press so far. Fantastic start this by Liverpool.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Chelsea did very well marking us on that throw-in. Another side that has identified how we use a short horizontal throw to open up space ball-farside. Chelsea prevented us taking the throw by tightly marking up - so we had to go backwards to Gini in our own half.

Tomori just did his ankle on the astroturf at the side of the pitch. This was a huge talking point on twitter this week with examples of Origi, Thauvin and others of players picking up ankle injuries. There have been a spate of ACL injuries in the US too.

Chelsea with the first dangerous moment of the match. Kovacic with great feet to open us up on the right. Mount is away and gets in the cross. Virg does brilliant to stop Abraham near post - Robbo clears back post just infront of Willian.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

FK in a dangerous spot here for Liverpool. Fabinho drives through their midfield - finds Mané who is fouled by Christensen a yard outside the box, quite central.

Can we get Gomez on for this #Ifyouknowyouknow

Emerson of Chelsea also struggling at the moment. Two defenders struggling in the early moments.

0-1 Liverpool. Trent!

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Foreshadowing

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

LOL good to see you Pete. Hope you are enjoying yourself. Just so you know - FK was rolled to the side and TAA lashed it into the top far corner. Wonderful strike.

https://twitter.com/pete_ellis70/status/1175799134458142720

We are excellent today in breaking up play in our transition to defence so far. So many times we are winning it back a few seconds after giving it away. This is the benefit of staying compact in midfield in these games.

Emerson off with a hamstring injury - missed that after the goal, sorry. Alonso on - happy with that, I think Emerson is a far better player.

Get well soon Emerson of course.

Tomori yellow carded for a late tackle on hendo in midfield. Young CB on a yellow for 70 mins?

Villa 0-1 up at Arsenal too.

That's a poor ball by Hendo, Salah has no chance of getting onto that 1-2. Fine margins here in the final third to us getting in.

Said it once, will say it again, you will struggle to find better than Adrian 1-v-1.

Abrahams gets in behind Virg, Adrian closes the angle brilliantly, spreads himself and saves the shot into the corner. Need to see a replay to see if he was actually offside &/or who played on.

It was Trent playing him on. But Matip probably would have done as well even if Trent was switched on. Poor that by both Trent to sag the line and Matip to let his mane go like that.

VAR - goal disallowed. Offside.

Goal Chelsea. Sloppy as fuck! Azpilicueta.

Ball pinballed around our box for about 5 seconds!

Disallowed - Offside with VAR. Got away with that. It was poor play

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Trent did will in that though - he cleared Abraham's flick off the line.

Gini lifts the ball over Azpi - fouled, freekick edge of the ball corner flag side on our left. Trent to whip it in.

0-2! BOBBY FIRMINO!

Trent rolls the ball from the FK, Robbo whips it in, Firmino 6 yards out - bang center - unmarked free header. Easy!

Some afters here between Hendo & Jorginho.

Have to say, Micheal 'John' Oliver is refereeing this superbly. Can the FA clone this guy. The quality level between him and the rest in this league is unreal.

Mané just tried to control a ball with his ear.

Adrian comes out for a high ball, keeps his knee up to protect himself and absolutely destroys Abraham with a knee between the shoulder blades.

Abraham down

Salah in with the ball over the top. Salah cuts inside Tomori - Christensen deflects it over the bar. Corner.

Christensen is down and this won't be good for Chelsea. Think he did his knee.

Liverpool won 5 of 5 games when ahead this season.

They won 30 of 33 when ahead last season.

Arsenal, Leicester and West Ham 1-1 draws are the 3.

Every 2 goal lead we took last season ended in a win.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Kovacic is down injured now too. That is Tomori, Abraham, Emerson, Christensen and Willian who have all been down with injuries already.

Christensen and Emerson already replaced (Alonso & Zouma).

With Mount & Kante also coming back from injuries, this could be a problem.

April 21, 2018 - 2-2 draw at the Hawthornes against West Brom was the last time Liverpool gave up a 2 goal lead.

https://twitter.com/babuyagu/status/1175805109827186688

Arsenal down to 10 men agaisnt Villa. Maitland-Niles sent off.

Abrahams heads wide for Chelsea. Need to defend that cross better and stop it coming in.

Alonso volleys a cross into the box. Adrian dives to stop it - then dives on the ball before any of the 3 chelsea players closing in have a tap-in.

Half-time 2-0. Fantastic half by Liverpool. Thoughts?

https://twitter.com/EMJP1981/status/1175806783585230850

https://twitter.com/koustav_ch/status/1175807105766428672

Yep I thought so to. The ball was similar to that one Karius punched out and Wanyama lashed into the top corner. It's an awful ball to deal with given the pace onit and it's swinging away from you. Adrian dealt with it well.

Ground Duels:-

Mane 5/6
Fabinho 2/4
Hendo 2/3
Gini 1/2
Virg 1/2

Possession Lost
Fabinho 1
Gini 3
Firmino 4
Virg 5
Matip 6
Robbo, Mané 7
Salah 9
Hendo, Trent 13

Adrian
0 Possession loses
1 High Claim
1 Punch
1/1 Successful Sweeping actions
1/1 SoT Saved
1 Big Chance saved.

Most completed dribbles?

Fabinho 2/2 (tied with Mané)

Guy just continue to grow in a red shirt for us. Wft is @reebecatavares feeding him?

@reebecatavares Oh and he has also completed 100% of his passes (26/26), including 6/6 long balls and his was his dribble and forward pass to Mané that resulted in the FK for the opening goal.

Beast.

@reebecatavares Kepa has conceded 13 goals from 23 shots on target this season.

A 43% save rate.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

https://twitter.com/wr_ghty/status/1175810716651216898

So many of them are 1v1's too - like todays. He's been fantastic since coming in. The difference between him and Mignolet is massive.

https://twitter.com/chrischidley_/status/1175810041808478208

We continue to be a nightmare for sides in second phase set plays. Firmino almost scoring - great save Kepa.

Another comes in, Mane heads wide. Think if Mane left that we have a free header right in front of goal. Need a replay. We look like we want to kill this game early

Replay - VVD looked like he had the better of Zouma behind Mané. Suspect if Mane doesn't win that header, VVD is making it 3-0. No way for Mane to know of course.

What a save and clearance off the line by Kepa. Oh it's offside.

Replay it looked onside. Brilliant move, Trent gets in behind into the box. Squares it into the 6yd box. Deflected towards their own goal by Chelsea and saved by Kepa. Still 0-2

#CHELIV #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

They are trippling up on Mo when he gets the ball now. That means there is an ocean of space somewhere waiting to exploit if we dig it out of that corner.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

https://twitter.com/koustav_ch/status/1175813182381809665

Agreed. If that ball goes in, despite the flag being up it gets a VAR review and is probably 0-3 as there was no whistle beforethe Kepa save.

Hendo warns Hendo about our time wasting as Adrian takes his time ona goal kick. Trent then booked a minute later for a throw-in taking too long. He didn't seem to be taking too long though - most throwins take about 15 seconds if not quick ones - as you are waiting for a space

https://twitter.com/koustav_ch/status/1175813976627847174

I think it was lee dixon, or kyle martino, on my thread saying they checked and there was no whistle. which means if a goal, it would get VAR reviewed as normal.

Matip just saved us a goal. Tracks Abraham into the 6yrd box and blocks his little backheel flick sending it wide.

Kante fires wide from the resulting corner after it breaks edge of box to him.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

10-man Arsenal have equalised at the Emirates against Villa. Guendouzi wins a pen. Pepe scores it - his first goal in English football. It was always going to be a penalty to keep the 'penalty merchant' shouts alive.

1-2 now to Villa. Wesley with the goal. Mad game that it seems.

Our 1-2s today have been great at opening up spaces against Chelsea and getting in behind.

Robertson has given away the ball very sloppily twice now in 2 minutes.

Gini's left footer goes wide. Wow, well wide :D

Great play by Bobby to spin charge past a few blue shirts and find Gini in space

https://twitter.com/koustav_ch/status/1175815821496635397

Makes sense from a game management pov, keep the ball, save our forwards legs from constantly sprinting after passes.

Trent defending at the back post saved us a goal. Shouts of high feet though. Tough one that as he won the ball.

Gini was in with the right ball there, holds it up, bobby gets the ball and slaloms some tackles in the box, plays out to Robbo. Cross straight to Kepa.

Ah, thought Salah was inthere. Mane intercepts a pass, plays it early back post to Salah, controls it off the ground, tries to play it past the defender. Cleared as it's overhit.

Milner coming on for Mané apparently. Good move - save some legs.

Kante just turned into prime Hagi to make it 1-2.

Turns in midfield and charges straight through the middle into the box unopposed - then curls one into the top corner. Adrian no chance - nobody closed him down? Shocking!

Watching the replay, the run of Abraham across Virg stops him closing it down. Hendo and Matip took too long to come across? Fabinho taken out of the game too easily with the spin by Kante?

Fabinho now having a go at Hendo for not closing the ball down now after another shot.

The difference inthat throw by Adrian compared to the Kepa one I mentioned first half - the power got the ball to Trent in space. Emerson had to wait for it and got tackled.

Batshuiyi on for Abraham

Fabinho will get booked here. Rugby tackles Batshuiyi to the ground knowing they will counter in behind if he gets away.

Matpi did well there - then fouls Willian on the left. Dangerous position this.

WHAT A SAVE!!!

Honestly Adrian is performing as well as any keeper in the league right now.

Offside given. Adrian wasn't to know.

Lallana on for Hendo

Been impressed with Salah's work the last 10 minutes. Tracking back and defending like we typically see from Mané.

10-man Arsenal equalise again. 2-2 now. Chambers.

Kovacic booked now for dissent.

https://twitter.com/SuttonShe/status/1175820580077088768

Nah, I think Alisson is a world class keeper and is on another level again. Adrian is a good keeper in top form though. The big thing is not needing to rush Ali back now.

Milner booked, foul outside the box. He does a lot of those.

Auba makes it 3-2 at the Emirates. What a game.

Brilliant by Bobby, sets Salah away - his first touch puts the ball straight into Kanté zone who clears. Poor that by Salah. Tired legs?

Batshuyi heads wide, unmarked from 8 yards. Got away with that also. Adrian might have it covered.

Piss poor defending. CB got split for a cross into the box.

#CHELIV #CFC #LFC #Chelsea #Liverpool

Brilliant defending by Lallana edge of the box there, had to be careful not to give away a pen. Then Gini's pass is out of play. We look tired.

Oh and Mount fires over from close range.

Gomez coming in for Salah. He worked hard today but had a poor game - nothing worked for him. It happens. If we can win despite that, it's a great 3 points.

Gini still pressing high and hard as anybody Lallana also pressing well. He could be a useful relief midfielder for us this season. He plays smarter and helps us stay compact .

Robertson intercepts, sprints the length of the pitch taking on all comers, shithouse Alonso nails him from behind. Yellow card. Should have played advantage. First Oliver mistake today.

Full time. 1-2 A massive win that. 15 wins in a row. 5 points clear.

I remember Klopp was asked about his big 6 away record beforehand - nice to get our first big away win this season.

Man of the Match

(if other, please state)

I think Adrian was magnificent today and had so many big big moments. Had no chance on the goal either. Top performance that.

Trent was fantastic today too. Got the opening goal and his covering saved us on two occasions at least that I remember. Although he did have

one poor moment playing Abraham onside for the 1-v-1. More than made up for that though.

Bobby got the winner and was just generally a problem for Chelsea when he got the ball - by far the best performance of our forwards.

Fabinho was a beast first half and head and shoulders above everyone on the pitch. Waned second half, got booked, was culpable for their goals in letting Kante turn inside far too easy. Still a big performance out of him though and set the tone of the game first ~60mins

So many shouts for Matip - I'm not seeing it. He had many big moments but had a few poor moments too. Not least for that batshuyi clear header from 8 yards out.

That is the beauty of the game though - we all see and value different things.

I'll do a second poll and cut the person with least votes (Firmino) instead of Matip.

MOTM?

Gotta dash, but thanks for following and interacting as always. Massive 3 points that. See you all soon.