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Liverpool’s January transfer window

IN
Ben Davies – Preston
Ozan Kabak – Schalke, loan

OUT
Takumi Minamino – Southampton, loan

Discipline

There are no suspensions. 

The suspension for five bookings has passed. Players who accumulate 10 yellow cards in Premier League matches up to and including our 32nd fixture will serve a two-match suspension in the competition.

Premier League bookings list:

Liverpool: Fabinho 5, Thiago 3, Mane 3, Jones 2, Kabak 2, Matip 2, Phillips 2, Shaqiri 2, Alexander-Arnold 1, Alisson 1, Firmino 1, Milner 1, Robertson 1, Van Dijk 1, Wijnaldum 1, N Williams 1

Chelsea: Kante 6, Azpilicueta 4, Chilwell 3, James 3, Thiago Silva 3, Ziyech 3, Alonso 2, Havertz 2, Kovacic 2, Mount 2, Pulisic 2, Christensen 1, Giroud 1, Zouma 1

Referee and VAR

Referee: Craig Pawson
VAR: Paul Tierney

Craig Pawson is the official for his fourth Blues game this term. The previous three were also away at Brighton, Newcastle and most recently Leicester.

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Ji made way for Erin Cuthbert soon after, having run her heart out, and then our second goalscorer was also replaced to be replaced by Guro Reiten. Within moments of the Norwegian’s introduction, however, the game took another twist as Berger came racing out of her goal and caught Ludmila to give Atletico their second penalty of the game. This time it was Van Dongen who stepped up to take it but, incredibly, Berger guessed right once again to produce another magnificent save.

In the rush for the ball that followed, Berger took a whack to the head, but fortunately she was able to continue – fittingly, too, as at the full-time whistle her team-mates rushed to celebrate with her following two crucial interventions in what had been a barnstorming opener to this tie.

The second leg takes place next Wednesday in the neutral venue of Monza, due to the Spanish government’s restrictions on travellers entering the country from the UK. Kick-off is at the earlier time of 12.30pm. Before that, we’re back in WSL action with a trip to West Ham United on Sunday.

Chelsea (4-diamond-2) Berger; Mjelde, Bright (c), Ingle, Andersson; Leupolz; Kirby (Reiten 78), Ji (Cuthbert 69); Harder; England (Charles 19), Kerr
Unused subs Musovic, Orman, Blundell, Carter, Fleming, Spence, Fox
Scorers Mjelde (pen) 58, Kirby 64
Booked Ji 56, Kerr 90+1
Sent off Ingle 12

Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) Lindahl; Aleixandri, Tounkara, Van Dongen, Strom; Ajibade (Knaak 75), Santos, Meseguer (c), Duggan (Laurent 75); Ludmila, Castellanos (Sampedro 88)
Unused subs Peyraud-Magnin, Kazadi, Bernabe, García, Nkout, Iglesias De La Cruz
Booked Castellanos 45
Missed penalties Castellanos 13, Van Dongen 80

Referee Tess Olofsson (Sweden)

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‘They have dropped points recently, sometimes deserved but also many times not deserved and there was a streak of very unlucky results. It is one of the best teams in Europe, with one of the best managers in Europe. There is no doubt about it, but we are confident enough to go there and prepare ourselves for what we need to do to win, which is nothing else than a top performance.’

While our head coach acknowledges that this game at Liverpool is an important one in the context of the top-four race, with just one point currently separating the two sides, he feels it will be far from decisive given the amount of football still to play this season.

‘We know the situation but we have 12 games left, so no matter what the result tomorrow, it will not be the end of the race for the top four. There is a big importance on this game and the way we play it. I hope we will show up with the same mentality and attitude we have had when we faced all the tough challenges so far, and there have been many.

‘This week brings those challenges up to the highest level you can imagine after Atletico and Manchester United, and now Liverpool and Everton, in the race for the Champions League and the top four. In my opinion, this race will go on until the end of the 12 games we have to play, but tomorrow is a very important fixture. We have the chance to keep them at a distance and this is what we hope to do.’

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Timo Werner was the most popular first goalscorer choice in February, with 45 per cent of all fans selecting him in their predictions. He was followed by Mason Mount and Olivier Giroud, who were selected by 16 per cent and 12 per cent. All three delivered goals during the month but, perhaps surprisingly, only two per cent of fans chose to select Jorginho to score first, despite the midfielder netting from the spot twice in February, rewarding those fans with 50 points for their selection.

The Blues enjoyed the majority of possession in every match we played last month and fans were confident in the capability of the team, predicting an average possession of 64 per cent for the month – just one per cent off the actual figure! Will the run continue in March?

Play Predictor is now open for our next match against Liverpool for fans to make their predictions to start the month well and give yourself the best chance to win.

There’s not only a monthly prize on offer to the top scoring fan, but also individual match prizes available for the top scoring fan after every game. See if you can win this month.

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Hayes gave an update on Millie Bright and Fran Kirby’s fitness and confirmed they are both available to play tomorrow…

‘It’s fair to say that this time of the year players are going to be managing situations.’

‘Millie is a player that will put herself through absolutely anything to play games of football and the realities are that she took a knock before the international camp, she was just having some issues around her hamstring tendon and it’s taken a little bit of time to settle down, but it’s settled down and she’s fit to play.

‘Fran is fine. In the Bristol game she said to me at half-time that she was struggling a little bit, she came off after 60 minutes because she couldn’t continue in the game and she’s taken the right amount of time to get it right during the international break and she too is fit to play.’

It’s a busy month ahead for Hayes and her team with at least six fixtures in March, however, the Chelsea manager is relishing the opportunity to be competing for trophies in all competitions

‘I want to play in the biggest competitions and I want to be at the latter stages, I don’t want to be thinking about spare weekends in any tournament so I’m really happy that we’ve got that and we must embrace it and relish the challenges ahead.

‘I approach every game the same I do every week, I’m thoroughly professional about every game we play and to do it any differently just sells the team short.

‘I do have a mindset that you have to train every day like it’s a final and we take our work seriously here and the players have to apply themselves every week, not just Champions League week.

‘There’s always big conversations around Chelsea and the Champions League but the realities are that we compete for trophies every year and it doesn’t matter what trophy it is, we just want to be competing and getting to finals and winning big games and that’s what we’ve done in the time since I’ve been here.’

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Changing how you are as a coach is key to his role believes the German, as is maintaining a good connection with all the players, and in order to do that he makes sure he listens when there is the chance to discuss leadership with others.

‘Sometimes it was intuition and sometimes it was planned but I don’t follow a guidance, I don’t follow a leadership book or something else,’ Tuchel said of his management decisions.

‘When there is time I talk a lot to people who are in leadership roles and in different roles, and I try to learn every day.

‘I talk to unknown persons, teachers of classes, the person who runs the school of my daughters, people who sell stuff. This can be a half-an-hour talk.

‘It is not important that you only talk to the biggest names out there in the world. It is about leadership from people and that can include teachers and anybody else who is in responsibility for people and for groups, and there you can get inspired.

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Leicester front man Ali Reghba was shown a straight red card for dangerous play after 74 minutes and Myers’ men looked to capitalise on the man advantage by adding extra players to the attack – that tactical move meant it was one-way traffic in the Blues’ favour.

Chelsea were camped in Leicester’s half for the remaining minutes but struggled to breakthrough the bodies that were thrown in the way of any goal-bound attempts – Nunn and Dynel Simeu were the closest, both of their shots from close range were frustratingly croweded out. Eventually time ran out for the Blues who had to settle for just a point.

What’s next?

Chelsea’s development squad are next in action on Sunday afternoon, kick-off at Kingsmeadow is 2pm.

Chelsea Karlo Ziger; Dujon Sterling (Pierre Ekwah-Elimby 77), Dynel Simeu, Levi Colwill; Harvey Vale, Lewis Bate (c), George McEachran (Thierno Ballo 71), Billy Gilmour, Tino Livramento; Bryan Fiabema (George Nunn 57), Tino Anjorin
Unused subs Ethan Wady, Dion Rankine
Scorer McEachran 45+5

Leicester Chituru Oduneze, Mitchell Clark, Cole Dasilva, Oliver Ewing, Danny Simpson, Harvey Godsmark-Ford (Callum Hulme 15), Tyrese Shade (c), Ali Reghba, Will Russ (Azeem Abdulai 77), Terell Pennant (Jake Wakeling 35)
Unused subs Dempysey Arlott-John, Arlo Doherty
Sent off Reghba 74
Scorer Shade 58

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The fight for a top four finish and the subsequent reward of Champions League qualification is set to intensify as we enter the final third of the campaign. The draw against the Red Devils took Chelsea to within a point of West Ham in fourth, with Leicester City a further four points ahead.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are a point behind us ahead of our meeting at Anfield on Thursday night, while Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa are lurking with games in hand. Rudiger sees it as an open race, with meetings between the contenders likely to prove significant.

‘It depends on us,’ he added. ‘We still have a lot of games to play and also against direct opponents so the battle is still in our own hands.

‘What the coach has brought is his way of playing, detailed work and the defensive shape is very good at the moment.

‘Our aim is to arrive in the top four. We don’t need to look at Man City at this moment because they are far ahead but with the top four, everything is open.’

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Ahead of the game, here we bring you all the information you need…

When and where?

The Blues will take on the Spanish side on Wednesday night at Kingsmeadow and the match kicks off at 7pm (UK).

How to follow and watch the game live

You can keep up to date with the match via our social media channels, too. There will be live commentary on our Twitter page and regular updates on Instagram and Facebook. All you need to do is search ‘ChelseaFCW’ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. We will also be giving fans live behind-the-scenes access of our matchday on our Instagram channel with Chelsea legend Claire Rafferty.

The match is also being shown live on BT Sport 2, with coverage beginning at 6:45pm.

The form

This will be the first match back following the international break. Chelsea went into the two-week pause with a solid 5-0 win over Bristol City in the Women’s Super League to maintain our top spot in league standings. Fran Kirby got us underway early on with a headed effort from a corner, Pernille Harder doubled our lead with a sublime strike and our No.14 bagged a brace by half-time with a close-range finish.

Sam Kerr headed in her 11th goal of the league campaign and Bethany England, who assisted her Australian team-mate, got on the scoresheet herself as she steered the ball home at the back post.

Due to the international break this will also be Atletico’s first game back. They were last in action on Sunday 14 February when they beat Valencia 4-1 in the Primera Division Femenina – the Spanish equivalent to the WSL – thanks to a brace from Ludmila da Silva, a goal from Rasheedat Ajibade and an own-goal.
 

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Hakim Ziyech had our best chance early in the second half as his close-range effort was turned away by David de Gea, while Edouard Mendy in the opposite 18-yard box made some important saves of his own. 

One of the game’s significant talking points was a handball appeal against Callum Hudson-Odoi, which was referred to the pitchside monitor for further inspection before the referee decided no further action was warranted. Click here to read our report of the game.

As well as the key action above, you can watch Andreas Christensen’s reaction in his exclusive Chelsea TV pitchside interview below after the Dane helped us to a fourth consecutive home clean sheet in the Premier League for the first time in over three years.

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