LONDON — Chelsea couldn’t beat Liverpool on the pitch, but a more significant outcome than Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge might be winning the race to sign Moisés Caicedo.
This was a contest which served as a 90-minute commercial explaining why both sides are willing to break the British transfer record for Brighton‘s Caicedo — while also vying with each other to land another midfielder with boundless potential, Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
Sources told ESPN that Caicedo’s preference is for a move to Stamford Bridge, and he will have been enthused further by the promising signs of progress under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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At the same time, there was also an obvious hole for him to fill in the side, as was true of Liverpool, who deployed Alexis Mac Allister at the base of a three-man midfield comprising £60 million summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai on one side and Cody Gakpo on the other.
The benefit of having a more attack-minded player like Mac Allister operate as a sort of quarterback was evident in Liverpool’s opening goal on 18 minutes. A move which began with Alisson and involved Szoboszlai saw Mac Allister find an excellent pass in behind for Mohamed Salah, who shimmied and delivered a sublime cross to the far post, where Luis Díaz was on hand to slide the visitors in front.
Szoboszlai and Mac Allister started the game in impressive fashion as Carney Chukwuemeka and Conor Gallagher floundered, the pair seemingly caught out by the pace of the frenetic opening period. Salah had a second goal ruled out for a tight offside call, and that reprieve helped Chelsea stir into action. They equalised through debutant Axel Disasi on 37 minutes, before another VAR call denied them a dramatic turnaround, as Ben Chilwell went a fraction too soon to convert a pass by Enzo Fernández.
Anchored by the excellent Enzo — the most consistent midfielder on show here — the Chelsea midfield grew in stature and helped dictate terms for much of the second half as Szoboszlai and Mac Allister faded in influence.
