Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

Daniel Sturridge and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were the headline inclusions for the Reds while Danny Drinkwater made his first league start for the Blues.

The game ebbed and flowed, with both teams enjoying possession in the position, and Drinkwater almost opened the scoring when sent through on Simon Mignolet, only for the Belgian to smother well. Moments later there was a goalmouth scramble and two possible penalty shouts as a Marcos Alonso shot was possibly handled and then Alvaro Morata was hauled down.

However, nothing was given but Chelsea were certainly growing in confidence, however neither side could break the deadlock before half-time although Mohamed Salah went close for the hosts with a curling effort. It continued to be a frantic clash in the second half but chances were few and far between. Chelsea were on top but mainly down to Liverpool’s defending which again was lacklustre.

However, they failed to create opportunities and it was their former player, Salah, who opened the scoring. Tiemoue Bakayoko was the culprit, miscontrolling on the edge of the area to allow Oxlade-Chamberlain to find the Egyptian who coolly rolled home on 65 minutes.

That prompted Chelsea to push forward and Antonio Conte inevitably went to his bench and his decision to introduce Willian paid dividends, with the Brazilian chipping home a delightful equaliser with six minutes to go. It was perhaps unintentional but the despairing Mignolet had no answer to the Brazilian’s effort.

Both pushed looking for a winner and Salah forced a strong save from Thibaut Courtois during injury-time as it ended 1-1 at Anfield.

ARIS