Mohamed Salah – The new highest points-scorer in this season’s FPL 👏
A fifth double-figure haul of the campaign for the midfielder 👑
Liverpool bҽat Chelsea, reclaim top spot
Liverpool won 2-1 at home against Chelsea in round 8 of the 2024-25 Premier League. Mohamed Salah contributed greatly to The Kop’s victory with a goal and an assist.
In a match at Anfield, Liverpool defeated Chelsea 2-1, thereby reclaiming the top spot from Man City. Liverpool deserved to win when the home team played more sharply than the away team. The Kop only had 8 shots, while Chelsea had 12, but the home team’s expected goals (xG) index was much higher than the away team (1.63 – 0.93).
In addition, the match also left some controversy about referee John Brooks’ decisions, related to yellow cards and penalties. The most controversial situation occurred in the 6th minute, when referee Brooks only gave a yellow card to Tosin Adarabioyo after pulling down Diogo Jota. It is worth mentioning that in a similar situation, defender William Saliba received a red card for pulling down Evanilson in the match between Arsenal and Bournemouth on October 19.
From the first minute, Liverpool showed their coherent attacking play. The home team created many dangerous opportunities in front of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s goal. The turning point of the match came in the 26th minute when Curtis Jones was fouled by Levi Colwill in the penalty area, and Mohamed Salah did not miss the opportunity from the penalty spot to open the scoring for Liverpool.
Just 5 minutes later, Liverpool continued to shake Chelsea’s net, unfortunately for the home team, the goal was disallowed due to an offside. VAR intervened and confirmed that Salah had received the ball in an offside position before assisting Cody Gakpo.
The second half started with excitement as Chelsea faced the of a penalty, but after a VAR review, referee Brooks decided there was no penalty. Chelsea then equalised 1-1. In the 48th minute, Moises Caicedo passed the ball to Nicolas Jackson, who took advantage of Ibrahima Konate’s positioning to score.
Chelsea’s joy did not last long. In the 51st minute, Salah made a precise cross from the right wing, allowing Jones to score to make it 2-1 for Liverpool. The goal belonged to Jones, but Salah deserved credit for his precise and delicate pass, eliminating the entire Chelsea defence.
After taking the lead, Liverpool switched to a defensive counter-attacking style. Although Chelsea had more shots in the second half, they could not create many real dangerous chances in front of Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal. The 2-1 victory gave Liverpool 21 points after 8 matches, surpassing Man City to regain the top spot with 1 point more.