Defense, Bagstik and Salah – 3 pluses and 3 minuses from Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea – Liverpool

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Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, keeping the Reds in eighth place in the Premier League.

Kai Havertz’s disallowed goal in the first half was eventful as things got in front of goal, with neither side worth three points.

In truth, there wasn’t much either side could gain from a match lacking any real quality from the start.

Here, though, we break down three pros and three cons from the Reds’ perspective.

Positive – two clean sheets on the rebound

Given that this is a Liverpool side who conceded eight goals from their three league matches against Brentford, Wolves and Brighton earlier this month, you have to take some encouragement from the fact that they managed to hold off Wolves and Chelsea in their last two matches.

Jurgen Klopp welcomed a question on the subject with a big smile in his post-match press conference.

“Huge,” he said when asked about the importance of consecutive clean sheets.

“Right after the match, you can’t forget the chances they had, but tomorrow I won’t remember them anymore. It’s just a clean sheet, which feels really good.”

Since that defeat at Brighton, the Liverpool boss has focused on his team becoming more “compact” and more solid in defence.

And in that regard, perhaps this was another step in the right direction. The challenge now is to ensure continued rigidity.

Alisson’s first clean sheet since October.

Negative – Is it time to worry about Salah?

Is it time to start questioning the contributions of someone who became the highest paid player in the club’s history last summer? You could certainly argue that Liverpool need more Mo Salah at the moment.

I know Liverpool have much bigger problems, but Mohamed Salah’s form is definitely a big concern.

He hasn’t played well for months. Seems unable to beat the defender one on one. His shooting is erratic and accelerated. What is he really contributing to at the moment?

— Matt Ladson (@mattladson) January 21, 2023

Even out of his form, Salah is better than most attacking players, but he’s out of his reach at the moment.

You don’t think he’s been the same since the Africa Cup of Nations last January, be it in his decision making, finishing or overall impact.

Not to be helped by the poor service, but still worth the criticism.

– Henry Jackson (@HenryJackson87) January 22, 2023

Al-Masry has scored twice since the Reds season resumed in December, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the only Liverpool player to find the net in any of his last four league matches.

Here, Salah never looked like a real threat against a Chelsea defense that has struggled in recent weeks. He has now gone three consecutive league matches without a shot on goal. The last time this happened was in April 2022.

At a time when the Reds are clearly struggling all over the field, they need more from their mascot.

Positive – the first appearance of a bagistic

After an outstanding performance against Wolves in midweek, it was gratifying to see Klopp give Stefan Bagcetic another chance in the midfield base against Chelsea.

It certainly wasn’t the easiest or the nicest game to be thrown at, but the Spaniard didn’t do himself any harm.

Since Liverpool were toothless there, he thought Bagcetik did a good job again – especially playing yellow for most of the game. Consecutive clean sheets and the midfield opening is nowhere near as often the case with an 18-year-old in the DM.

— Joel Rabinowitz (@joel_archie) January 21, 2023

The coach spoke in glowing terms about Bajcetic before and after the game, perhaps a sign that he is in line for more league starts in the coming weeks.

Really, the midfield didn’t do much, but you have to say it looked more cohesive than the trio of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Thiago have done in recent weeks.

And although Liverpool now have several days to prepare for an FA Cup match in Brighton, there are not many fans calling for Fabinho to return to the team before Bagcetik.

Negative – an alarming lack of ideas

You have to admit, it’s sad to see how far off pace Liverpool are currently, given the position they were in less than 12 months ago.

With the tie still 0-0 this was about as boring as it could get, and the Reds did their part to contribute to a game that was played at a very poor level.

After an impressive performance from Harvey Elliott on the right side of Liverpool’s attack at Wolves, you have to wonder why Klopp would choose to deploy him in a left side role in this game. The solution was definitely to use Elliott up the right, Cody Gackbo on the other flank, and Salah through the middle.

Watching Liverpool throw the ball into the penalty area feels so wrong.

— Leanne Prescott (@_lfcleanne) January 21, 2023

After the match, Klopp insisted the performance was a “small step” in the right direction. This, if anything, is indicative of how far this team has fallen, given the fact that they were home to a team currently in 10th place in the league table.

Positive – Nunez is back

Had he been fully fit, there is no doubt that Darwin Nunez would have started this game, considering how little Liverpool’s attack is at the moment.

A rough diamond, yes, but the Uruguayan certainly makes things happen, and he did it again in 30 minutes from the bench at Anfield on Saturday.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Elliott and Fabio Carvalho have been asked to fill in more strikers in Nunez’s absence, but Klopp is certainly hoping to give the trio of Salah, Jacopo and Nunez a long run of appearances.

Negative – It wasn’t Gakpo’s goal yet

The addition of Liverpool for January certainly did not arrive at the club at the most opportune time, and you get the feeling he would benefit greatly from his first goal for the club.

Lined up in a relatively unfamiliar No. 9 role again, Gakpo grabbed two chances in the first half, testing Kepa Arrizabalaga after linking up with Nunez in the second half.

Klopp is hoping the Dutchman can capitalize on Nunez’s return to fitness, with a return to his more comfortable attacking role at left flank possibly on the cards at Brighton next week.

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