Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool: 5 Conclusions from the game

#2 Sarri-ball might need a few more tweaks

Liverpool v Chelsea

Chelsea under Sarri almost always end the game with the most passes and the better passing accuracy. It is a facet of their manager’s tactics, the Sarri-ball, and it has been immensely effective so far. Yet Liverpool showed the Italian that there are still a few tweaks required to Sarri-ball.

Against Liverpool, Chelsea finished with 559 passes with 83% accuracy, while Liverpool attempted 616 passes with 83% accuracy. Liverpool had more of the ball in the game – 53% possession and the way they dominated the blues at the Stamford Bridge must have irritated Sarri. However, there is still a lot of good on display from Chelsea’s side.

For starters, Sarri seems to have finally found his ideal midfield partnership and Kante, Kavocic and Jorginho complement each other pretty well. Kovacic has recently started keeping Barkley on the bench and he showed against Liverpool again why he is an important aspect of Sarri’s tactics. Then, the Italian's use of Hazard and Willian has been excellent and Kante has also rediscovered himself under Sarri.

The Sarri-ball might need a few more tweaks, but then, it is only continuous improvement that builds champions.