Liverpool earned a well-deserved victory in the topper against Chelsea on Sunday: 0-2. At Stamford Bridge were the Reds played into the card because Andreas Christensen ran into a red card on the stroke of rest. With one man less, the home team hardly had anything to contribute and it was Sadio Mané who made the difference. Chelsea-keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga blundered in the 0-2 and seems to have to fear for his base place.

On the side of Chelsea, Hakim Ziyech was missing in the match selection because of an injury. The other gains Thiago Silva and Ben Chilwell were also not fit to take action, while the German purchases Kai Havertz and Timo Werner did appear at the kick-off. For Havertz the game was over after 45 minutes. Manager Frank Lampard pulled him to the side after Christensen had to leave the sheet with red in his pocket. The defender was punished for knocking down Mané, who was launched by a long ball from behind from Jordan Henderson. However, after watching the footage on the advice of the video referee, Tierney turned the yellow card into a direct red card: he felt that Mané, as a breakthrough player, had been prevented from scoring. It was the most striking moment of an otherwise quiet first half. The difference was made in the second game, in which Thiago Alcántara made his debut for Liverpool. The Spaniard completed his transfer last Friday and immediately gained the confidence of Klopp with a 45-minute raid.

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Chelsea had little more to contribute after rest and it was waiting for the opening goal. It fell in the fiftieth minute and came in Mané’s name. After a fine combination of Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah on the right flank, Mané got the ball on the head and left Kepa without a chance with a powerful headbutt. Not long after the 0-1 Kepa made a huge mistake and led the 0-2. Under pressure from Mané, he wanted to build up the closing post, but that turned out completely wrong. The Senegalese stuck his leg out and could control the ball and then score. Kepa has been under fire for a long time and it’s not inconceivable that he lost his starting position. A few minutes after the blunder, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano announced on Twitter that Chelsea is bringing in a new goalkeeper with Edouard Mendy. He comes over from Stade Rennes and will be presented next week.

Liverpool, where Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum made the ninety minutes full, kept insisting. Big chances were missed, however, so Chelsea kept a glimmer of hope for a result. With a quarter of an hour left on the clock the Lampard team had an excellent opportunity to put the connecting goal on the scoreboard. Thiago brought Werner down in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty. Jorginho took a seat behind the ball and saw his penalty kick turned by Alisson. The Brazilian keeper chose the right corner and prevented a goal from being scored. Chelsea came dangerously in front of Alisson’s goal a few more times in the final stages, but there was no scoring. The win puts Liverpool on six points from two games; Chelsea is stuck on three points.