Liverpool avenge their FA Cup Final defeat with a 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea. Ramires spoils the home side’s clean sheet, while Daniel Agger and Jonjo Shelvey grab their first goals of the season against a much-changed Blues side, with rotation clearly a major part of Roberto Di Matteo’s thinking ahead of the Champions League Final.
Daniel Agger
The Dane returned to league action last night, having been rested for the previous game against Fulham. With Jamie Carragher slotting in alongside Martin Skrtel in the heart of defence, Agger took his place at left-back, as Jose Enrique dropped out. Agger continued his recent upturn in attacking threat by grabbing his first goal of the season in the 4-1 thrashing – the 5.8 priced defender has also contributed a couple of assists in his last five, compared to just a single assist over his first 21 appearances.
Liverpool Midfield
Kenny Dalglish sprung a surprise by leaving Steven Gerrard out of the squad entirely for the Blues showdown. A look at the results, though, shows the Liverpool skipper has been far from inspirational – the Reds have won just two of the 12 games he has started this term. Instead, Jonjo Shelvey and Jordan Henderson were handed the central midfield roles and the pair took advantage of an under-par and under-strength Chelsea by grabbing a goal apiece. Maxi – in his fourth start in the last five – provided an assist, while Stewart Downing was afforded the perfect opportunity to break his scoring duck when the hosts were awarded a penalty. Given the season he has had, however, it was no surprise to see his strike hit the post.
Luis Suarez
An assist for Michael Essien’s own goal maintained Suarez’s strong end to the season at Anfield. After disappointing for much of the campaign, he has now produced attacking returns in four of his last five home appearances and, with a hat-trick on his last game on the road, the Uruguayan will be in confident mood as Liverpool head to Swansea on Sunday – Brendan Rodgers’ side have picked up just one clean sheet in the last eight Gameweeks. Last night also saw Andy Carroll grab an assist – incredibly, this was the first time this season that both forwards have picked up attacking points in the same home game, with the only other occasions occurring in Gameweeks 7 and 10, away to Everton and West Brom respectively.
Chelsea Rotation Hits Hard
A look at last night’s team sheet highlighted just how much Roberto Di Matteo is willing to rest and rotate many of his first-choice players ahead of the Champions League Final. Only three of the starting XI who won the FA Cup Final against Liverpool on Saturday remained in the line-up; John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Ramires – no coincidence that the trio are all suspended for the game against Bayern later this month.
While Ramires grabbed a consolation to scupper the Liverpool clean sheet, the dire Anfield display will surely make Di Matteo think twice over sending out a similar side against Blackburn on Sunday. A home game against the relegated Lancashire outfit looks potentially prosperous for the likes of Juan Mata, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, though whether the interim Blues boss is willing to take a risk, with their Allianz Arena game six days later, is perhaps doubtful. Mata’s 8.9% of Fantasy owners will be particularly worried – he has started only one of the last five now, though still had enough time to provide four assists in 66 minutes against QPR in Gameweek 36.
