It was a game short on shots and quality at Anfield. Re-live this Premier League game with our Liverpool vs Chelsea stats page.
Chelsea brought an end to their six-game losing streak in the Premier League with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday.
Ryan Gravenberch put the champions ahead at Anfield early on with a fine strike, only for an Enzo Fernández free-kick to inexplicably find its way in 10 minutes before half-time as the Blues took a point back to London with them.
Chelsea came into the game off the back of six consecutive losses in the league, but for the first time in a long time showed some fight to earn a draw, though they also owed plenty to yet another insipid performance from Liverpool, who only recorded 0.51 expected goals (xG), their lowest in a Premier League home game since March 2021, which was also against Chelsea (0.28).
Unless they get a favour from Fulham when they host Bournemouth later on Saturday, Liverpool still need three points from their last two games to secure UEFA Champions League football, while Chelsea remain in the race for the remaining European places. They could even make the Champions League if they are able to finish sixth and Aston Villa both finish fifth and win the Europa League.
It took just over five minutes for the hosts to take the lead, with Rio Ngumoha receiving the ball on the left. The 17-year-old found Gravenberch on the edge of the box, and the Dutch midfielder opened his body up before curling a peach of a shot into the top right corner of the net.
Ngumoha’s pass made it the 55th goal either scored or assisted by a teenager in the Premier League this season, the most in a campaign since 2006-07 (58).
It looked as if Chelsea were in for another long day at the office, but bizarrely, Liverpool stepped off and allowed their visitors to grow into the game.
Giorgi Mamardashvili was back between the sticks for Liverpool after recovering from a knee injury, and the Georgian was called into action to save from Marc Cucurella as Chelsea found joy from through-balls down the left time and again.
He was unable to do anything about the equaliser in the 35th minute, though, with Fernández hitting a low delivery from a free-kick towards the far post. Only Chelsea players reacted and the confusion allowed the ball to go all the way in.
It was no less than Calum McFarlane’s side deserved, and was Chelsea’s 57th goal scored from a direct free-kick in Premier League history. Only Man Utd (68) have scored more, with Chelsea moving level with Liverpool (57).
Mamardashvili was forced into a save from Fernández before the break, and Chelsea thought they’d gone ahead early in the second half as Cole Palmer scored after a goalmouth scramble, but fortunately for the hosts, Cucurella had been offside in the build-up.
Liverpool were then denied by an offside flag as Curtis Jones nodded in from Gakpo’s header across goal, but the Dutchman had been just beyond the last defender when Dominik Szoboszlai’s cross to him came in.
Szoboszlai forced Filip Jörgensen into a fine save just after as Liverpool started to find their feet again, and the Hungarian then smacked the left-hand post in the 71st minute as Arne Slot’s men came within inches of re-taking the lead.
João Pedro fired over for Chelsea as the game went into the final 15 minutes finely poised, before Liverpool hit the woodwork again when a Virgil van Dijk header from a corner crashed against the crossbar.
It was, in truth, a predictably low-quality game from two teams completely shorn of confidence, and the game ended as a draw that suited the away side more than the hosts.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Liverpool vs Chelsea stats from their Premier League meeting at Anfield on Saturday 9 May 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Liverpool vs Chelsea: Selected Post-Match Facts
- Liverpool have dropped nine points from winning positions in Premier League home games this season, their most at Anfield in a single campaign since 2015-16 (14).
- There were just 14 shots in this match (Liverpool 8, Chelsea 6), with only Sunderland v Newcastle in December having fewer in the Premier League this term (11).
- Excluding penalties, only Bournemouth (19) have conceded more goals from set pieces than Liverpool (18) in the Premier League this season.
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