Liverpool and Chelsea’s draw lit up by Mudryk’s exciting debut

Neither Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (left), a proven Premier League goal scorer, nor Chelsea’s exciting new signing Mykhailo Mudryk (right) could break the deadlock at Anfield. Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images

Liverpool and Chelsea scrapped and haggled as hard as they could on Saturday before ultimately settling for a 0-0 draw at Anfield that does little for either team’s faint hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League this season.

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Kai Havertz thought he’d scored inside three minutes after Liverpool failed to defend a corner, but VAR overturned the effort for offside and thus the game settled back into a frustrating rhythm.

It was a day of notable moments — Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp celebrating his 1000th game as manager, the English top flight (including Premier League) reportedly staging its 50,000th fixture and a debut for much-ballyhooed wide man Mykhailo Mudryk — but the match itself will not go down in the history books as the two sides fought to a frustrating stalemate.

The result leads both teams firmly stuck in mid-table, with Liverpool in eighth and Chelsea in 10th ahead of the weekend’s other fixtures, separated only by goal difference on 29 points with Brentford between them, and Chelsea having played a game more than both. Back to the drawing board, then.

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