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Are you on your worst run in years and in desperate need of a point?
Do you have a fanbase ready to revolt at the hierarchy after poor ownership and costly managerial appointments?
Anxious about how low your team might plummet and where they will finish in the final league table?
Doctor Liverpool will see you now. A visit to Arne Slot’s Anfield clinic is the perfect remedy for you. Your symptoms will soon be relieved.
Previous patients include Tottenham, who had lost six games in a row before turning up at Anfield to win the first – and only – point of the short-lived Igor Tudor era.
See also teams like Wolves, who were fearing a record-low points tally before playing the Reds at Molineux and winning, also-relegated Burnley, promoted sides Leeds and Sunderland. Don’t forget Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United or Sean Dyche’s Nottingham Forest.
Chelsea stopped the rot with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool after six successive defeats in the league
Ryan Gravenberch gave Liverpool lift-off with a stunning early effort from outside the area
Coming to Merseyside on their worst league run since 1993, having lost six in a row for the first time since Glenn Hoddle’s team managed it, Chelsea – like Spurs a month or so ago – were an almighty mess.
Fans would have been fearing the worst as they boarded the rattler at London Euston on Saturday morning. But rookie manager Calum McFarlane left with a much-needed draw after Enzo Fernandez cancelled out Ryan Gravenberch’s early opener.
Perhaps more importantly than the point, Chelsea produced a performance to be proud of and one to take confidence from ahead of next Saturday’s FA Cup final against Manchester City. For the first time in months, they looked a cohesive unit – solid at the back and dangerous in attack.
But that is Doctor Liverpool for you. The Premier League champions bring out the best of opponents. Anfield is no longer a feared fortress but a theatre of nerves, the noise at full-time no longer celebratory songs but loud boos.
In Slot’s defence, the jeers have been louder this season but that is only the case as hundreds – if not thousands – had headed for an early exit. They had seen enough and a glance at the stairwells in the last 10 minutes was a telling gauge of the belief, or lack thereof, in the fanbase.
The groans started when they were 1-0 up, fans frustrated by Ibrahima Konate seeking to play a backwards pass. The noises of disgruntlement ramped up when players checked back rather than storm forward and when Rio Ngumoha, an exciting talent, was substituted off.
Can Slot turn this around? The owners Fenway Sports Group certainly believe he will. But given the discontent in the fanbase, it would take a minor miracle and it feels he is fighting an uphill battle. With many supporters, he is past the point of no return.
A draw against Chelsea in isolation, of course, is not bad but in the context – the away team’s form, the fact Liverpool lost a 19th game of the season at Old Trafford last week – made it damning for Slot and Co.
‘How bad must you be, we’ve scored a goal,’ sang the away end – or words to that effect. Oh, catch up, Chelsea fans… they are very bad. This Liverpool side surprises one every week with just how weak they actually are.
It actually started well. Gravenberch put the Reds ahead after six minutes with a rasping, curling effort from the edge of the penalty area. This Chelsea team felt there for the taking and a Champions League spot – all but confirmed with a win – was well in sight.
But Liverpool soon retreated. After the fine first 15 minutes, it was back to normal: passive, stodgy, vulnerable, naive, toothless. Take your pick of adjectives but the Reds soon reverted to type and invited Chelsea, a team that came here on their worst run in a generation, to attack.
When all is said and done about Liverpool this term and wherever they end up, one of the most worrying things Slot must solve is how their home ground has lost its fear factor. The fans could sense a change in the tide after a positive start.
They were soon jeering and audibly grumbling. A place that once fed off Jurgen Klopp’s heavy-metal football now sounds bored and tired of Slot’s slow style. It was fine last year as they were winning but now they are a tough watch for many.
Fernandez pulled Chelsea level with a free-kick that evaded everyone and the Argentine could have put them ahead minutes later but was this time denied by Giorgi Mamardashvili. The goal was the 18th time Liverpool have conceded a set-piece, their worst-ever season in this regard.
Former Chelsea prospect Rio Ngumoha shone for Liverpool and assisted Gravenberch’s goal
Both Cole Palmer (above) and Liverpool’s Curtis Jones had goals disallowed in the second half
The goal had been coming, too. After the tidy start, Liverpool retreated and almost said to Chelsea: come on, lads, why don’t you have a go? Cody Gakpo, the starting No 9 given injuries, did not touch the ball until the 40th minute.
Minutes after half-time, the away team thought they had drawn level. Moises Caicedo played an inch-perfect pass to Marc Cucurella, who was marginally offside when he helped the ball to Cole Palmer to score.
At the other end, Curtis Jones also had a goal ruled out for offside, when Dominik Szoboszlai picked out Gakpo unmarked in the box – but just ahead of the play. Both teams could feel hard done by after tight, albeit correct, calls from the assistant referees.
Virgil van Dijk rattled the crossbar with a bullet header in Liverpool’s best chance of the second half, while both teams had penalty shouts – McFarlane said it was a ‘clear’ foul on Joao Pedro, who also had a curling effort just go wide of the target.
By this point, many Liverpool fans had headed home early. It was a lunch-time kick-off so they weren’t dashing for the last train home, they were voting with their feet and decided they had better places to be. That, in itself, is damning for Slot, a man who the fans have lost faith in.
