Chelsea talking points: Tammy Abraham taught a harsh lesson as N’Golo Kante vindicates positioning

Stunning strike | Kante celebrates with Jorginho after his goal against Liverpool
AP
James Olley22 September 2019

Chelsea suffered a narrow defeat at home as Liverpool restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table. James Olley highlights four talking points from the match at Stamford Bridge...

Kante vindicates positioning

Chelsea are immeasurably better with N’Golo Kante in any position but Maurizio Sarri was widely derided for using the Frenchman on the right-hand side of a midfield three rather than in the centre.

It was therefore a surprise that Frank Lampard persisted with that positioning upon his return to the team this season but his 71st-minute strike came from an area of the pitch he would have been unlikely to occupy in his previous central role. Picking the ball up 35 yards out, Kante turned and drove at Liverpool’s defence before steering a brilliant shot past Adrian.

It was only his ninth goal for Chelsea but one which underlined his importance to the team in all aspects of their play: Kante was at the heart of a second-half fightback which could on another day have earned them a draw, especially if Mason Mount had taken a glorious chance as the game was about to enter stoppage time.

Defensive concerns mount

Only Chelsea’s medical staff and the player himself will know how much of a gamble it was to start Emerson at left-back but the home dugout was a hive of activity in the first 15 minutes as they weighed up whether he was fit to continue with escalating concern.

Eventually, Emerson limped off to be replaced by Marcus Alonso and the situation worsened before half-time as Andreas Christensen was forced off after Fikayo Tomori accidentally slid into him attempting to stop Mohamed Salah.

With Antonio Rudiger recovering from a groin problem, Chelsea’s injury problems at the back are starting to mount. At least Reece James is closing in on a return following an ankle ligament injury.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Liverpool | 22/09/2019

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Set-piece problems deepen

Liverpool were typically ferocious in the press and dangerous in attack but it will rankle Lampard that they conceded twice from set-pieces again. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 14th minute striker from Salah’s back-heeled free-kick was sublime but the concession of the original foul – Christensen on Sadio Mane – was clumsy and Chelsea were slow to close down the Liverpool defender as he took aim.

Similarly on the half-hour mark, Andrew Robertson crossed for Roberto Firmino to head home – a clinical move but one benefiting from time and space. A reminder: since August 2018, 21 of the 52 League goals Chelsea have conceded have been from dead-ball situations. At 40 per cent, only Manchester City are more porous (55.2 per cent) from set-pieces

Harsh lesson for Abraham

Chelsea did not lose because of Tammy Abraham’s profligacy but the 21-year-old is aiming to prove himself a bona fide Premier League class striker at a top club and the margins for error in that environment are much smaller than he is perhaps used to.

Photo: AP
AP

Abraham has enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign but after an off-night against Valencia in midweek, he missed two good first-half chances which could have repaired some of the damage sustained at the other end.

His movement was good throughout but against the very best, Chelsea need their number nine to be clinical. Michy Batshuayi replaced him for the final 13 minutes and the Belgian international should have done better with an 88th-minute header when unmarked in the box.

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