Chelsea star likes Instagram post highlighting Liverpool hero Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq losing game in front of just 696 fans 

Chelsea faced Arsenal in front of 40,000+ fans in a London derby last weekend, while Liverpool defeated Everton in front of 50,000+ fans. It was surely a huge surprise for Cole Palmer to see that only 696 fans watched Al-Ettifaq lose a top-flight match in Saudi.

Al-Ettifaq faced Al-Riyadh at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in the capital and lost 1-0, thanks to a first-half strike from Khalid Al-Shuwayyi. The match was played in front of a largely empty stadium, as fans were surprisingly absent from the encounter.

An Instagram post from Sportbible highlighted the issue, bringing the attendance to light with a picture of Al-Ettifaq's starting XI for the game. The caption compared the Saudi Pro League to the ninth division of English football, which had more fans at its games.

"Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq lost to Al-Riyadh on Sunday in front of just 696 fans. Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Demarai Gray all started in their second successive defeat. Back in the 9th tier of English football, 3,195 fans watched Bury vs Wythenshawe. A staggeringly low attendance in the Saudi top-flight," Sportbible wrote on Instagram.

The post had already generated 109,679 likes, one of them being from Blues forward Cole Palmer. Fresh from an MOTM-winning performance against Arsenal, the youngster was surely bemused by the number of fans in attendance at the stadium for the Saudi Pro League match.

The Saudi government has heavily invested in the league over the past year, but that has not yet translated to complete acceptance. Al-Ettifaq is among the clubs that invested heavily in their squads, signing Liverpool legend Jordan Henderson, Demarai Gray, Georginio Wijnaldum, and manager Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard’s side sits in seventh place in the standings with 17 points from their first ten matches this season.

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Liverpool, Chelsea facing mixed bag in Premier League

On the opening day of the 2023-24 season, Liverpool and Chelsea treated fans to an entertaining draw at Stamford Bridge. Both sides had finished last season in unfamiliar territory, with Chelsea in 12th and Liverpool in fifth.

Since their opening day draws, their seasons have gone in opposite directions in terms of results. While Liverpool has picked up 19 more points to sit in fourth place, Chelsea has managed just 11 more and is in tenth place.

Chelsea is on a run of four unbeaten matches and will be keen to pick up a win against Brentford in their next game. The Reds, on the other hand, will be looking for another win when they take on Nottingham Forest on Sunday.