Chaotic Chelsea-Liverpool draw shows why Man City will surely be Premier League champions

James Milner grimaced like a man who knew what he had done, and what might follow.

Maybe he did.

There were three minutes until half-time at Stamford Bridge and Liverpool were in the ascendency, 2-0 up and looking set to blast their way back into the Premier League title race.

Sadio Mane had ended his nine-game goal drought and Mohamed Salah had delivered another magical moment to usher in the new year. West London began the day blue, but it was swiftly turning red.

And then, with one careless foul, the whole thing changed.

A cheap free-kick and a Mateo Kovacic screamer later, Chelsea had a lifeline where there appeared to be none. Milner looked to the heavens, his team-mates just looked annoyed.

By half-time, Liverpool’s lead was gone, and by full-time, surely, so were their chances of catching Manchester City.

We can probably write Chelsea off as well, as it happens. This game, wild, unpredictable and about as intense as it gets, may have shown why these two sides are so far ahead of the other 17 in the league, but the truth of the matter is that it also showed why neither of them are likely to get near Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions.

It finished 2-2, a result to be celebrated only at the Etihad Stadium. City’s gap is 10 points to Chelsea and 11 to Liverpool, who boast a game in hand but will now be without both Salah and Mane for the remainder of January. On this evidence, they will struggle to cope.

There were mitigating circumstances - injuries, suspensions, Covid cases and the absence of their manager, Jurgen Klopp, for example - but the Reds will rue their own carelessness, for sure. This was another game they could and should have won.

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This was their sixth draw of the campaign, and in five of them they have led. Two years ago, they were relentless, a team capable of shutting down games with almost robotic ease, but since clinching that elusive Premier League title in 2020, that ruthless streak has deserted them.

And it is that which will cost them this season.

They had looked good when Mane profited from a Trevoh Chalobah error to open the scoring after just nine minutes. It was the Senegal star’s first goal in more than 800 minutes, and taken with aplomb.

Chelsea had started in lively fashion, but by 26 minutes they were on the ropes, Trent Alexander-Arnold picking out the run of Salah, who skinned Marcos Alonso and clipped the ball past Edouard Mendy at the near post. After drawing a blank in his last two league matches, the Egyptian was never going to make it a hat-trick, was he?

But even when leading, Liverpool never gave the air of a side in control. They were open and frenetic, their pass completion in the opening 45 minutes was their lowest of the season, and as a result they left the door ajar for Chelsea.

Milner’s mistake and Kovacic’s stunner changed everything. It was manic, the game driven along by a raucous Stamford Bridge atmosphere.

Christian Pulisic levelled and from there it was anyone’s game. Liverpool had the better efforts in the second half, Mendy saving well from both Salah and Mane, while Chelsea bossed possession and probed with patience.

Neither could find the killer blow, though, and in the end the draw was the right result.

Especially for Manchester City. Guardiola can start ordering the silver polish and the open-top bus now, surely?