LONDON — What a difference a midfield makes. Sunday’s 3-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge was a further indication that Chelsea might finally be on the way to getting things right in the middle of the pitch.
It has been a long journey to this point, and one that has been inextricably linked to the Reds, given that both clubs aggressively pursued deals for Moisés Caicedo and Romeo Lavia in 2023.
Caicedo remains Britain’s most expensive footballer after completing a £115 million move from Brighton & Hove Albion that summer, surpassing the previous record Chelsea set in completing the £106.8 million acquisition of Enzo Fernández from Benfica a few months earlier. Lavia also moved to west London that year in a £58 million switch from Southampton that has been so blighted by injury that this was just his 10th Premier League start in almost two seasons at the club.
This was only the sixth time Lavia, Fernández and Caicedo have started together for Chelsea. The combination proved too much for Liverpool and was the bedrock of a victory that keeps the Blues on track to secure the UEFA Champions League spot they crave.
Manager Enzo Maresca has opted for an unconventional way of accommodating all three players, selecting Caicedo at right back for the third game in succession and allowing Lavia and Fernández to form a dynamic and combative central-midfield pairing.
Perhaps predictably, Liverpool were on the beach here, and if anything, the absence of their first-choice midfield trio — Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai — underlined the importance that area of the pitch can have on a team’s fortunes. After all, the midfield rebuild Jürgen Klopp presided over was a key reason Arne Slot was able to inherit such a formidable team without any need to strengthen it in the market last summer.
Try as they might, Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott were poor understudies. Slot would never criticize a group that has just delivered Liverpool’s 20th top-flight title, but he did admit they “missed that little bit which we usually have; we missed a few percentages to get that result.”
Fernández made his presence felt after just three minutes, latching onto Pedro Neto‘s cross by working the ball onto his right foot and stroking a low finish past Alisson Becker. It was the Argentina international’s 20th goal involvement of the season and yet more evidence of his upward trajectory, starting the campaign as he did from the low point of apologizing to teammates after posting a racist and anti-gay video following Argentina’s Copa America victory.
Lavia tired and Maresca introduced Reece James, pushing Caicedo into midfield permanently — as opposed to only when in possession — and it was the Ecuador international who helped settle the contest, demonstrating his seemingly limitless energy by bursting into the box where Quansah brought him down to give Cole Palmer the chance to end a 13-game wait for a goal.
Palmer had earlier hit the post and played a key role in the buildup to Quansah’s own goal, suggesting Chelsea’s poster boy might be stirring into action at the right time with key league games against Newcastle United, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest to come along with a likely UEFA Conference League final should they complete the semifinal job against Swedish side Djurgården back in London on Thursday.
Palmer had the most shots (5), created the most chances (4) and had the joint-most touches in the opposition box (8) of any Chelsea player, but the man himself has no doubt who is the most pivotal figure.
“When you have got [Caicedo] in front of you, it’s a dream,” Palmer said after the match. “From the start of the season, he has been our best player; he wins the ball back all the time, he’s humble, nice to everyone and everyone loves him.”
Chelsea’s season is yet to be determined as a success or failure with everything to play for, but their hopes of a positive conclusion are stronger when Caicedo, Lavia and Fernández can play like this.
