Chelsea drew 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield this afternoon, ending a six-game Premier League losing run and handing Levi Colwill his first start of the season.
The result mattered in the numbers: 1-1 on the board and a six-game losing streak stopped. Calum McFarlane made five changes to Chelsea's side for the match, a reshuffle that included Filip Jorgensen replacing the injured Robert Sanchez in goal and Levi Colwill starting for the first time this season.
Chelsea's starting XI read Jorgensen, Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella, Hato, Caicedo, Andrey Santos, Fernandez, Palmer and Joao Pedro. Liverpool opened with Mamardashvili, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo, Frimpong, Gravenberch and Ngumoha.
The match was part of Premier League live coverage at Anfield and ended up giving Chelsea a clear break from recent results. Chelsea's draw also halted the sequence that had left them without a league win in six straight matches.
Timeline matters: on Monday, Chelsea lost against Nottingham Forest, and Levi Colwill had come off the bench on his return to senior action. This afternoon, with five changes named, Colwill was promoted to the starting XI and Mathis Eboue was named on the bench for the first time.
The selection choices underline the tension in Chelsea's week. Filip Jorgensen started only because Robert Sanchez was injured, and McFarlane's decision to make five changes reshaped a side that on Monday had not started Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Romeo Lavia and Jesse Derry against Nottingham Forest.
The draw stops the immediate slide. It also leaves a sharper question for McFarlane and the club: will this reshuffled XI, including Colwill and Jorgensen, be sustained for the next league fixture, or was Saturday a temporary fix?
