Beth Lindop
James Olley
James Olley
Senior Writer, ESPN FC
LONDON — A dramatic late winner from Estêvão lifted Chelsea over Liverpool 2-1 to deny the reigning Premier League champs the chance to return to the top of the table.
Cody Gakpo thought he had rescued a point for Liverpool after an opener from Moisés Caicedo, but a strike from substitute Estevao in the 95th minute turned the game. Liverpool had surrendered top spot earlier in the day when title rivals Arsenal beat West Ham United 2-0, with the Reds remaining in second place going into the international break.
Caicedo gave Chelsea the lead when his shot from distance rifled past Giorgi Mamardashvili in the 14th minute at Stamford Bridge. Gakpo poked home from close range shortly before the hour mark but it was Enzo Maresca’s side who went on to clinch the victory after Estevao tucked the ball home deep into stoppage time. — Beth Lindop
Are Liverpool in crisis?
As the Chelsea players wheeled away to celebrate Estevao’s late winner, the song “Chelsea Dagger” blasted out from the speakers at Stamford Bridge.
Certainly, Liverpool will be wounded by this defeat, which could prove costly in their pursuit of the Premier League title. It is the first time in Arne Slot’s tenure the Reds have lost three consecutive games and the first time they have lost back-to-back league games in over two years, since losses against Bournemouth and Manchester City in March-April 2023.
That Liverpool still sit second in the table — just a point off leaders Arsenal — is a testament to their strong start to the campaign. But, having been the beneficiaries of so many late goals in the early weeks of the season, Slot’s side have now been handed a bitter taste of their own medicine in successive games, with the latest blow coming after Eddie Nketiah’s last-gasp winner for Crystal Palace last week.
Liverpool are not yet in full-blown crisis but they currently look like a shadow of the team that romped to the title last term. After a summer of enormous change at the club — during which they spent close to £450m in the transfer market — a period of transition is perhaps to be expected. However, if Slot wants his team to defend their crown, he will have to come up with solutions pretty quickly. — Lindop
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Caicedo steps up for Chelsea and makes Livepool pay
Liverpool were unable to seal a deal to sign Caicedo when he left Brighton for Chelsea in 2023, but the Ecuadorian made them pay this time.
The Reds backed off and backed off, allowing Caicedo to collect Malo Gusto’s simple 14th-minute pass and take aim. The 23-year-old fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner to add a fresh entry into an already impressive showreel.
They joke in these parts than Caicedo only scores screamers and there’s plenty of evidence that is in fact the case: his first goal for Chelsea came from the halfway line against Bournemouth in May 2024 while last season his two efforts were both stunning strikes, against Manchester United at Old Trafford and to seal a 4-1 UEFA Conference League final win over Real Betis.
Goalscoring was not part of the thinking when Chelsea committed a then British-record £115 million transfer fee on Caicedo but it is starting to become a hugely valuable bonus. Caicedo has already scored more Premier League goals this season (three in seven games) as he did in his first two seasons for the club in 73 games. — James Olley
Salah’s slump for Liverpool continues
For so long, Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool’s talisman — the man they turned to when in need of a moment of magic. At present, though, the Egypt international’s golden touch appears to be evading him.
Against former club Chelsea, Salah once again appeared a shadow of his former self and spent much of the evening on the peripheries of the action. In the first half, he had just 18 touches, the joint fewest of any Liverpool player (alongside Alexander Isak), and completed just six of his 11 passes.
After the break, he was more involved, though his erratic finishing was uncharacteristic of a player who scored a league-high 29 goals in the top-flight last term.
Of course, there are some mitigating circumstances for his dip in form. The arrival of Isak and Hugo Ekitike this summer means that Salah is still having to forge new relationships with the players around him. It is also impossible to quantify the impact of Diogo’s Jota’s tragic passing on the 33-year-old, who broke down in tears on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth.
Still, no player — no matter how great — can outrun Father Time forever. Having signed a two-year contract extension back in April, Liverpool manager Arne Slot will hope Salah’s slum is temporary, but it is clear that, for now at least, he has lost his spark. — Lindop
Maresca’s gets his Mourinho moment
How fitting that at the end of a week in which Jose Mourinho was serenaded on his latest return to Stamford Bridge — this time with Benfica — current Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca was able to enjoy a moment reminiscent of one of his predecessor’s most iconic moments.
Mourinho’s run down the touchline at Old Trafford as his Porto side knocked out Manchester United on the way to winning the 2003-04 Champions League is one of the Portuguese’s most iconic moments. That triumph got him the job at Chelsea, where he became a legend across two spells.
Who knows where this will sit in the club’s history, but Maresca emulated Mourinho by sprinting down to the corner where his players celebrated Estevao’s dramatic intervention. It also earned him a red card from referee Anthony Taylor, denying him any further enjoyment in the moment but there has been mounting pressure on the Italian after a mixed start to the season with some supporters unconvinced he is the right man to take them back to challenging for Premier League titles.
Beating the champions will feel particularly sweet for him in that context and so his reaction was understandable. — Olley
Chelsea’s centre-back woes deepen
Maresca was already without Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Tosin Adarabioyo (all injured) and Trevoh Chalobah (suspended) here before losing Benoit Badiashile to injury early in the second half.
That forced Maresca to introduce Romeo Lavia — only just fit again — into midfield and shift Reece James to centre-back alongside youngster Josh Acheampong, the 19-year-old academy graduate who impressed on only his fourth Premier League start and by some distance his most important.
Eight minutes later, Liverpool equalised and shortly afterwards, Acheampong could not continue and Jorrel Hato was introduced for his fifth appearance after a £37 million summer move from Ajax.
At the top end of the pitch, Chelsea relied on Joao Pedro but with Liam Delap injured — not to mention playmaker Cole Palmer also absent — Marc Guiu made his first appearance after a sudden recall from Sunderland. He touched the ball twice. But Estevao made sure none of it mattered on Saturday. — Olley
Liverpool increasingly face defensive woes of their own
As legendary Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson once said: “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.”
Based on this season’s evidence, Liverpool’s defensive woes mean that it is difficult to see them retaining their Premier League crown without serious improvement. The Reds have now conceded nine goals in their seven league games this term and have kept a clean sheet in just two of their ten matches in all competitions.
By contrast, rivals Arsenal have let in just three goals in the top flight this term and it is that stability that has helped propel them to the top of the table. From the opening game of the season against Bournemouth, Liverpool have looked leaky.
Ibrahima Konate — out of contract next summer — has looked short on composure, while Slot’s inability to settle on a first-choice right-back has prevented the Reds’ back line from gaining any kind of consistency. Despite having captured the signatures of a host of top attackers last summer, Liverpool’s collapsed move for Palace defender Marc Guehi looks more and more costly with every passing week. — Lindop
