Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool: Premier League – as it happened

I would like to bring you the post-match comments from Klopp and Conte but the coverage has switched to Wenger’s farewell speech at the Emirates. He began it by wishing his friend Alex Ferguson well as he recovers from brain surgery and ended it by telling the Arsenal fans that he will “miss them”.

It would be some feat if Liverpool managed to fail to qualify for the Champions League by cocking things up against Brighton. But that’s now a real possibility. Blimey. Of course, if they win the Champions League they could also knock Chelsea into the Europa League even if Antonio Conte’s side do manage to finish fourth.

Arsenal gave Wenger a fine send-off at the Emirates. They won 5-0.

Jeremy Dresner writes: “Liverpool enjoyed the warm optimistic hug of the final third. Playing like percentages in areas actually matter. But they were strangely allergic to the six-yard box. Like a vegetarian running an all-meat farm-to-plate restaurant. No bite.”

Well, after a slow start Chelsea showed other teams how to nullify the threat of Liverpool: defend deep and afford them very little space in behind. That was exactly what Antonio Conte said his team would do before the game. He would have liked a little more enthusiasm in the first 20 minutes but after the goal the work rate was never a problem. Liverpool ran out of ideas – and puff - towards the end of the match. They have now lost 2-1 to Manchester United, drawn 0-0 with Everton, 2-2 with West Brom, 0-0 with Stoke and lost 1-0 to Chelsea after Champions League matches. The European hangover is real, folks.

90+3 min: Solanke heads wide from six yards after leaping early to get on the end of a Mane cross to the near post. Rudiger leapt at the Liverpool forward, though, and did enough to put the striker off.

90+2 min: Liverpool come again. Moreno swings a ball into the back post that Alonso brings under control with a neat header down before thumping clear. And then Fabregas is replaced by Pedro, which wastes some time and takes the sting out of Liverpool’s attack.

90 min: There will be four minutes of injury time. Liverpool just cannot find the space to shape a shot when they work the ball into the Chelsea penalty area. That’s testament to Chelsea’s increased work rate. They’re not giving any of Liverpool’s forwards a chance to turn.

89 min: Zappacosta is on for Moses, who has been excellent for Chelsea today. And Moreno is on for Milner, who looks knackered.

88 min: Lovren plays a curled diagonal ball into the box towards Solanke, who finds a good spring in his step to tower above Cahill and head just over from 12 yards.

87 min: It’s all a bit sloppy as Solanke loses possession easily and then Cahill gifts the ball back to Liverpool. The attempted clipped pass into the box by Milner is gathered comfortably by Courtois.

85 min: Willian, who scored in this fixture at Anfield earlier this season, is brought on for Hazard, who has been exceptional since Chelsea’s goal. Hazard is given a standing ovation as he trots off.

82 min: Firmino is caught in possession on the halfway line but, as he often does, he wins the ball back off Fabregas as though offended. Liverpool build and Henderson bends a ball into the box that Rudiger stretches to head up and away. And then Henderson repeats the trick, trying to find Firmino on the far post, but Azpilicueta sweeps at the ball, mis-kicks and puffs his cheeks out in relief after watching the ball bobble harmlessly into Courtois’s arms. He was tad lucky there, all right.

80 min: Then Chelsea break and Moses curls a delicious ball in to the back post, where Alonso bends backwards and thumps a left-footed volley inches wide of the far post. That would have been a sublime goal. It was behind him and difficult to control.

78 min: Liverpool are going for this. Alexander-Arnold pings a ball in to Solanke’s feet. The youngster is under pressure but does well to hold the ball near the penalty spot. He’s desperate to turn and shoot at goal but the ball is prodded away by Cahill near. Mane picks up the loose ball and looks to shoot but the blue Chelsea wall moves out squashes the space expertly. The pressure is building though.

76 min: Azpilicueta stops a dangerous-looking Liverpool attack with a wonderfully-timed sliding interception just outside the penalty area. He’s such a steady player.

74 min: Robertson is taken off. Solanke is brought on. Klopp is going to go for this point. Milner is either playing rock–paper–scissors as he gets instructions off Klopp or he’s instructing the team that they’re playing 3-4-2-1. I think that’s what his hands said, anyway.

71 min: Salah tries to dance around a crowd of Chelsea players in the box. He almost succeeds but is finally forced to cut back inside where he tries to play a one-two with Firmino, but the Brazilian’s back-heel is stabbed away. Chelsea break but their counter-attack fizzles out in the final third.

70 min: Arsenal are winning 4-0 now. They’re definitely better than Burnley.

68 min: This is all going wrong for Liverpool. Their passing has gone to pot and they’re looking disjointed now too. Robertson chests a ball towards Karius that is nowhere near the keeper and drifts out for a corner. Karius probably could have come out and helped the Scottish full-back out, mind.

66 min: Moses shows fleet of foot on the right as he tries to engineer an opportunity to cross but Robertson does well to hold him up and Liverpool clear. Liverpool break and Henderson finds Firmino on the right. The Brazilian swivels inside his marker and clips a cross into the box where a sum total of zero Liverpool players are waiting for the ball.

65 min: Salah has been quiet today but he has been quiet in other Liverpool games and then scored. He’s had only 22 touches in the game so far.

64 min: Salah lurks menacingly on the edge of the box and flicks the ball towards Mane but Rudiger gets a boot on the ball and sends it high into the air. It’s not pretty but Chelsea clear eventually.

62 min: Hazard plays a one-two with Bakayoko and beats Alexander-Arnold for pace down the left with a jet-heeled burst of acceleration. He can’t find a cross but the ball is worked back to Bakoyoko on the edge of the box but his shot is good old-fashioned daisy-cutter that slows down as it rolls across the dry pitch.

60 min: Henderson is on for Clyne. The full-back has looked a little rusty today. Alexander-Arnold will now play at right-back and Henderson can sit in midfield.

57 min: Hazard leads Firmino and Clyne on a merry dance down the left, leaving both looking flummoxed in his wake before walloping a shot at Karius that loops up and is cleared hurriedly at the back post by Robertson for a corner. From that, Giroud wins a header and Rudiger clatters the ball past Karius but he’s a mile offside.

55 min: Kante puts paid to another Liverpool attack, skidaddling into the path of Robertson and shepherding the ball out of play for a goal-kick after Milner had prodded the ball down the left wing.

53 min: Liverpool win a couple of free-kicks around the penalty area that are defended well by Chelsea. The home side then break forward rapidly and force Robertson to clear at Liverpool’s far post. Chelsea look better balanced now. They’re much better in the transitions than in the first half.

51 min: Hazard is enjoying himself now. He plays a rabona pass for no reason at all. I doubt he’d have done that early in the first half when Chelsea weren’t in the game.

49 min: Alexander-Arnold takes a look at goal, thinks about laying the ball off and then thinks better of that and goes for the Roy of the Rovers approach. Thwack! It’s miles over. Nothing wrong with a bit of chutzpah from a youngster, though.

47 min: Hazard wriggles away from his marker on the left wing and finds Fabregas inside him. The midfielder spins away from his marker and then momentarily loses control before taking an extra touch and freeing Moses on the right-hand side of the box. But the winger’s shot at goal is drilled a foot wide. That was nifty play.

“Would Arsenal now be in the Uefa Cup final if they hadn’t moved Giroud on?” asks William Hargreaves. Erm, I doubt it. One man alone cannot hold up a crumbling house. Arsenal are winning Wenger’s final Gunners home game 2-0 by the way, so they’ll probably finish above Burnley. Whoop!

Joseph Harvey talks tactics: “As a Liverpool fan who has watched every Chelsea-Liverpool match the past couple of years, Conte has a really good plan against Liverpool. Basically, it’s let Liverpool have most of the ball, counter when you can. Towards the end of the last match, Conte threw on Fabregas and Willian and basically bossed the game. Liverpool were lucky to get out with a draw. Sure, Liverpool look dominant, but barring something special, this is probably the best way to play against Liverpool. Mind you, it doesn’t help to have Spurs fans on your side.”

Maybe this is all part of a Klopp motivational masterplan. “By the way lads, you need to beat Real Madrid to do this all over again next season!”

45 min: The half is drawing to a close with an extended spell of sterile possession from Liverpool. The blue wall in front of them appears to have very few cracks in it.

44 min: Rudiger does well to hold off Salah and wallop the ball out for a throw. They were team-mates at Roma last year. Rudiger has certainly read Salah well and has looked solid against the turbo-charged Egyptian so far this afternoon.

42 min: A reader tweets:

Like with much of football I suspect the answer lies in dressing-room b@ntz.

40 min: Clyne is booked for clattering into Alonso over by the touchline. Fabregas swings the resulting free-kick towards the back post but Karius catches confidently under pressure.

38 min: Liverpool are back in possession and comfortable once more. They work the ball back up to to Salah, who dinks the ball across the D looking to make space for a shot and then tumbles under a challenge that was never really there. He’s correctly booked for a dive.