Chelsea vs Liverpool | Things We Learned

Chelsea keep the pressure on Liverpool in the search of Champions League football next season after taking all three points at Stamford Bridge today thanks to a goal from Olivier Giroud. Squad depth is still an issue  Due to a lack of midfielders thanks to injuries, Trent Alexander-Arnold found himself playing in the midfield three along with James Milner and Georgino Wijanldum. Jordan Henderson was left on the bench for what I can only assume was due to taking a few knocks midweek against Roma, but it also proves that our squad depth is not as good as we thought it was. Adam Lallana is so close to being back available for first team selection having travelled with the squad to Rome on Wednesday and resuming first team training but his comeback could have done with being a little bit sooner due to Emre Can and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also being out of action. The fact that Trent had to start in midfield today shows that Jürgen Klopp needs to be looking to add a few more midfield signings in the summer, we have Naby Keita who is coming in but with the whole Emre Can situation and the slim chance that he will be here next season, he has got to look to strengthen in that position. You’ve also got to look at the options we have on the bench, he bought Dominic Solanke on but he failed to make a real impact although he had a few opportunities to test the Chelsea defence. Rome took its toll on us The midweek Champions League semi-final against Rome seemed to have taken its toll on the players with our usual forward line lacking a bit of energy. Mo Salah hasn’t been at his best over the last three games in my opinion and maybe he has ran out of ideas having scored 43 goals already this season. Everyone is allowed an off day and although you want to see him at his best every week and especially against his former club Chelsea you’ve got to forgive him. It seems James Milner was also running low on battery as he wasn’t at his usual best either. He took a knock early on which may have impacted his performance for the rest of the game, he was later moved to left-back after Andy Robertson got taken off but was later subbed off for Alberto Moreno as I think Klopp would rather see him make it through the game with only a little injury rather than him be unavailable next weekend against Brighton. Looking ahead  No point dwelling on today’s match, it is best to look ahead to an important game against Brighton next weekend where a win should secure top four for us and also to the Champions League final against Real Madrid in a few weeks’ time (yes we made the final don’t forget) and hopefully we will be able to secure Champions League football again on the final day of the season, similar to last year, and then fully focus on the final in Kiev. Article by Lauren Black -@LaurenBlack9 For more Redmen TV content including podcasts, subscriber exclusives and three new shows every week subscribe now and get your first month for FREE bit.ly/RMTVjoin