Chelsea and Liverpool have played out a fourth successive goalless stalemate between the two sides courtesy of a 0-0 draw in their Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge this evening.
The Blues began life without sacked manager Graham Potter against another team that has fallen far short of their ambitions this season, and will feel that they should have come away with a victory that would have seen them move to within one point of their visitors.
However, the change in the dugout did not bring about a change in Chelsea's cutting edge in the final third as interim boss Bruno Saltor watched his side squander a host of chances.
Joao Felix, Mateo Kovacic and Kai Havertz were all guilty of missing glorious openings for the home side, who also saw a Reece James strike ruled out for offside and a Havertz goal chalked off for handball.
A much-changed Liverpool side offered little in reply, with their best moments coming through Joe Gomez and Fabinho at the end of the first half, and Jurgen Klopp's men were fortunate to come away from West London with a point following their latest insipid showing of a season they will be desperate to consign to the past.
© Reuters
The point is still enough to lift Liverpool up a place to eighth, but they remain seven points adrift of the Champions League places with now only one game in hand over fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and having played a game more than Newcastle United and Manchester United.
Chelsea, meanwhile, remain 11th having now won 10, drawn nine and lost 10 of their 29 games this season, leaving them 11 points off the top four.
It was another hugely frustrating evening for the Chelsea fans as they saw many damaging hallmarks of Graham Potter's ill-fated seven-month reign rear their heads again - most notably their wastefulness in front of goal.
The Blues could have been 3-0 up inside the opening 12 minutes having cut through some calamitous Liverpool defending in the early stages, with Joel Matip denying Felix and Ibrahima Konate blocking a Kovacic shot on the line just five minutes into the game.
Alisson Becker then came to Liverpool's rescue to thwart Havertz from point-blank range before James did finally get the ball in the back of the net, only to see his fierce first-time strike ruled out for offside against Enzo Fernandez.
© Reuters
The visitors threatened to pull off a smash-and-grab at the end of the first half when Joe Gomez drew a flying save from Kepa Arrizabalaga, and Fabinho then saw his shot from the resulting corner blocked by Wesley Fofana.
The best chances all fell the way of Chelsea, though, and they were once again made to rue their lack of ruthlessness at the start of the second half when Kovacic ballooned over while clean through on goal.
Moments later they thought that they finally had a stroke of luck as Alisson denied Havertz when one on one but then saw the ball bounce back off the Chelsea forward and into the empty net, only for VAR to reveal that the last touch had come off Havertz's arm in a cruel twist of fate.
Klopp will be the more relieved manager with a point as Liverpool at least ended their three-game losing streak, although he will once again be concerned at how easily his defence was cut open time after time, particularly with league leaders Arsenal visiting Anfield at the weekend.
Having warned before the match that only "two or three" players were assured of their position in his team, Klopp made six changes to his starting XI, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah among the notable absentees.
© Reuters
However, any hopes that trying something new would result in an injection of confidence into the team proved unfounded as Liverpool produced another poor display noticeably lacking in self-belief.
Chelsea, meanwhile, played with plenty of confidence until it came to the final third, where they never looked truly capable of capitalising on the numerous chances they created.
The result is a fourth successive goalless draw between the two sides, becoming only the third fixture between two top-flight teams in English football history to see that many matches in a row end goalless.
It is also the sixth time in a row the fixture has ended all square - the first time in Liverpool's top-flight history that has happened against a specific opponent, and the first time for Chelsea since 1956.
However, despite an underwhelming display, Liverpool have now set a club record of five successive league visits to Stamford Bridge without defeat, whereas Chelsea have equalled an unwanted Premier League club record of failing to score in a sixth home match of the season.
Barney Corkhill
