Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca felt his aspect deserved greater than a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool this afternoon.
The guests are nonetheless a piece in progress underneath the Italian however confirmed sufficient at Anfield to counsel they are going to problem for a top-four spot on the finish of the season.
Mohamed Salah’s penalty put Liverpool in entrance just for Nicolas Jackson to stage at the beginning of the second half. Parity was short-lived, although, with Curtis Jones shortly netting what turned out to be the winner.
Defeat at Anfield.#CFC | #LIVCHE pic.twitter.com/3tRRFxqimJ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 20, 2024
Maresca advised Sky Sports activities: “We don’t prefer to lose or drop factors, however I actually preferred the efficiency. We deserved one thing extra however the efficiency was good.
“We managed many of the sport. We had probabilities, we had possession. We don’t prefer to lose, but when we have now to decide on that is the way in which. The crew was courageous on and off the ball.
“I don’t assume this sport defines the place we’re. We ready in one of the best ways, it labored fairly properly. You must take probabilities, however general I’m very pleased with the gamers.”
Returning James echoes Maresca
Chelsea captain Reece James made his first begin of the season at right-back after lastly regaining full health and he additionally felt Chelsea had been unfortunate to return house empty-handed.
The England worldwide stated: “Coming right here is all the time powerful. I feel we managed many of the sport. They’d probabilities however we had a couple of probabilities as properly however didn’t take them.
“We’re positively shifting in the precise route. The scoreline doesn’t mirror the sport.
“If we step again and have a look at performances and what we try to do, we have now come a good distance. It’s nonetheless early days, we haven’t been with the supervisor lengthy.”
Slot noticed it otherwise
Liverpool returned to the highest of the Premier League with the win, having been deposed by Manchester Metropolis earlier within the day.
And Arne Slot was delighted his gamers discovered a strategy to win in what he described as their hardest sport of the season.
The Dutchman advised BBC Match of the Day: “Many different video games had been arduous however this may need been the toughest possibly due to the quantity of high quality gamers they’ve and the construction they’ve. We needed to battle actually arduous to get this one over the road.”
Slot felt Liverpool should have had a second penalty when Jones was introduced down within the field however replays confirmed Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez had performed the ball first.
He added: “The sport turned troublesome for us as a result of there have been a couple of selections for my part that didn’t go for us, essentially the most essential was after we thought we had the penalty earlier than half time. To go 2-0 earlier than half-time would make an enormous distinction from 1-0. Then we conceded however we stepped up once more and scored the second.
“Within the Premier League there are such a lot of good groups so if you wish to win no less than you should battle after which hopefully the people could make the distinction.
“It helps if you happen to play in opposition to a Chelsea, it’s a huge sport and everybody feels it. We felt it and the followers felt it as a result of they had been there for us at the moment.
“We confirmed up, that was crucial factor.”