LONDON — What a difference a midfield makes. Sunday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge was a further indication that Chelsea may finally be on the way to getting things right in the middle of the pitch.
It has been a long journey to this point, and one that has been inextricably linked to the Reds, given both clubs aggressively pursued deals for Moisés Caicedo and Romeo Lavia in 2023.
Caicedo remains Britain’s most expensive footballer after completing a £115 million move from Brighton & Hove Albion that summer, surpassing the previous record Chelsea set in completing the £106.8 million acquisition of Enzo Fernández from Benfica a few months earlier. Lavia also moved to west London that year in a £58 million switch from Southampton that has been so blighted by injury that this was just his 10th Premier League start in almost two seasons at the club.
This was also only the sixth time Lavia, Fernández and Caicedo have started together for Chelsea. The combination proved too much for Liverpool and was the bedrock of a victory that keeps the Blues on track to secure the UEFA Champions League spot they crave.
Manager Enzo Maresca has opted for an unconventional way of accommodating all three players, selecting Caicedo at right back for the third game in succession and allowing Lavia and Fernández to form a dynamic and combative central-midfield pairing.
Perhaps somewhat predictably, Liverpool were on the beach here, and if anything, the absence of their first-choice midfield trio — Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai — underlined the importance that area of the pitch can have on a team’s fortunes. After all, the midfield rebuild Jürgen Klopp presided over was a key reason Arne Slot was able to inherit such a formidable team without any need to strengthen in the market last summer.
Try as they might, Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott were poor understudies here. Slot would never criticize a group that has just delivered Liverpool’s 20th top-flight title, but he did admit they “missed that little bit which we usually have; we missed a few percentages to get that result.”
Fernández made his presence felt after just three minutes, latching onto Pedro Neto‘s cross by working the ball onto his right foot and stroking a low finish past Alisson Becker. It is the Argentina international’s 20th goal involvement of the season and yet more evidence of his upward trajectory, starting the campaign as he did from the low point of apologizing to teammates after posting a racist and homophobic video following Argentina’s Copa America victory.
Lavia is a powerhouse of a player — when fit. That caveat has been a big one during various issues including hamstring, ankle and thigh problems that have cast doubt over a promising career.
“You can see that we are a better team with Romeo,” Maresca said after the match. “Unfortunately, you can see he has been injured for most of the season. Probably in this moment, the difference between us and more clubs is we had many important players injured. Romeo is one of them. He showed again today how important he is for the team and how good he is.”
Fernández’s goal was the quickest Liverpool had conceded in the league all season. Chelsea’s second owed yet more to Liverpool’s post-title relaxation. Virgil van Dijk thrashed a 56th-minute clearance against Jarell Quansah and the ball flew into his own net.
Darwin Núñez headed inexplicably wide from six yards in response before Slot, belatedly, called for Szoboszlai and Mac Allister with 21 minutes remaining and, unsurprisingly, Liverpool began to rouse themselves. Salah drifted a header off target before Van Dijk made amends by powering Mac Allister’s 85th-minute corner past Robert Sánchez.
Lavia tired and Maresca introduced Reece James, pushing Caicedo into midfield permanently — as opposed to only when in possession — and it was the Ecuador international who helped settle the contest, demonstrating his limitless energy by bursting into the box where Quansah brought him down to give Cole Palmer the chance to end a 13-game wait for a goal.
Palmer had earlier his the post and played a key role in the build-up to Quansah’s unfortunate own goal, suggesting Chelsea’s poster boy may be stirring into action at the right time with key league games against Newcastle United, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to come along with a likely UEFA Conference League final should they complete the semifinal job against Swedish side Djurgården back here on Thursday.
Palmer had the most shots (five), created the most chances (four) and had the joint-most touches in the opposition box (eight) of any Chelsea player, but the man himself is in no doubt who is the most pivotal figure.
“When you have got [Caicedo] in front of you, it’s a dream,” Palmer said after the match. “From the start of the season, he has been our best player, he wins the ball back all the time, he’s humble, nice to everyone and everyone loves him.”
Chelsea’s season is yet to be determined as a success or failure with everything to play for, but their hopes of a positive conclusion feel stronger when Caicedo, Lavia and Fernández can play like this.
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