Chelsea hold Liverpool to a goalless draw

• Liverpool and Chelsea could not be separated in their Premier League clash this afternoon
• Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th match as a manager ended in a goalless draw
• Mykhaylo Mudryk came off the bench for his first Premier League game

Liverpool and Chelsea could not be separated in their Premier League clash this afternoon, as Jurgen Klopp’s 1,000th match as a manager ended in a goalless draw.

The two teams went into the game hoping for a result to kickstart their respective seasons after poor runs of form had left them level on points in ninth and tenth place, respectively.

However, neither team could capitalize on the other’s recent woes and were forced to settle for a point apiece – a result that does little for either team’s top-four hopes, despite temporarily moving Liverpool up to eighth.

Indeed, Liverpool and Chelsea are nine points behind the final Champions League spot, a gap that could widen further when Newcastle United faces Crystal Palace later on Saturday.

Chelsea’s disallowed goal

Kai Havertz thought he had opened the scoring, but VAR disallowed the goal.|PHOTO: Goal|

Chelsea thought they had a perfect start to the match when Kai Havertz stroked home a rebound after Thiago Silva’s initial effort from a corner had come off the post after only three minutes.

A VAR review, however, revealed that Havertz’s foot was just ahead of the ball when Silva struck it, allowing Liverpool to escape by the thinnest of margins.

Just three minutes later, Mohamed Salah laid the ball into the path of Cody Gakpo, only for the Dutchman to balloon his effort over the bar when he should have done better – one of several shooting opportunities he failed to capitalize on in search of his first Liverpool goal.

Thiago Alcantara and Salah also had chances for the hosts in an underwhelming first half. Still, Chelsea’s Benoit Badiashile saw his header from Hakim Ziyech’s free-kick well saved by Alisson Becker.

With both sides lacking quality in the first half, Liverpool came out of the blocks faster in the second half but still struggled to test Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga truly.

Mykhaylo Mudryk’s first game

Mykhaylo Mudryk impressed off the bench.|PHOTO: BE SOCCER|

The arrival of a high-priced new signing Mykhaylo Mudryk came off the bench 10 minutes into the second half and began to swing the game back in Chelsea’s favour, while Ziyech began to have an increasing influence on the match.

Indeed, Ziyech came close to a spectacular solo effort on the hour mark before Mudryk came up with an even better run, beating James Milner and Joe Gomez inside the box before firing into the side-netting.

Mudryk squandered another big chance at the back post after being picked out by a dangerous Ziyech delivery, but the Ukrainian’s cameo gave Chelsea some hope in the game.

Trent Alexander-Arnold fired off target when he should have done better, and Andrew Robertson came across to make a crucial last-ditch challenge to deny Carney Chukwuemeka inside the area.

However, neither side was able to produce any telling moments of quality in the final third, meaning that this fixture has now been drawn three times in a row in the league for the first time, in addition to goalless draws in both the EFL Cup and FA Cup finals last season.

As a result, Liverpool is still looking for their first league win of the season, while Chelsea has only won one of their last five top-flight games.

It was at least a rare clean sheet for Liverpool, their first in the league since October 19, but both teams could finish the weekend as many as 12 points behind the top four.