In what could be considered the first meeting between two genuine title contenders, it was a case of honours even and with both Liverpool and Chelsea having to make do with a share of the points at Anfield, each outfit will wonder if things could have ended just a little differently.
That’s because Chelsea will rue the fact that they took the lead, only to then get pegged back and Liverpool will perhaps rue the lack of dominance when they had numerical supremacy on the field of play.
In terms of the visitors, it was Kai Havertz who drew first blood for the Blues and with his header looping over the stranded Allisson in the Liverpool goal, the Kop was stunned into something of an early silence.
While when it comes to blood, Chelsea certainly had a taste for it once ahead and had they managed to double their advantage before the break, it could have a considerably varied story at the final whistle.
However, the game was turned on its head just seconds before the break and after Joel Matip did well to keep the ball alive in Chelsea’s penalty area, there was a something of a skirmish that subsequently followed.
One that saw Sadio Mane prod the ball towards the opposition net and were it not for Reece James, Liverpool would have restored parity there and then. Then again, the Chelsea defender’s block was not quite to the letter of the law.
As the ball cannoned off the England international’s body, it also bounced up onto his arm and after referee Anthony Taylor was asked to go and have a look at the VAR monitor, he eventually pointed to the spot.
While salt was certainly rubbed in the figurative wounds of James, as he was then given his marching orders in front of a rapturous home crowd and with Mohamed Salah stepping up from 12 yards, there was only going to be one outcome.
An outcome that saw Liverpool get back into the game at one each and with a full second half to play with an additional man on the pitch, the pendulum was now swinging in the direction of Jurgen Klopp and his men.
Unfortunately, for as much as they huffed and puffed and the Kopites did their best to suck the ball over the goal, Thomas Tuchel crafted a near perfect gameplan for the second 45 minutes – that is if perfection was getting out of Merseyside alive with a point.
If it was, then it was a case of job well done and with both teams losing their perfect records at the start of the campaign, the new league leaders Tottenham are now the only Premier League outfit to possess a 100% record.
Of course, there is an incredibly long way to go in terms of competitive football for the season and even though each of these teams have dropped points last weekend, they will certainly both be in the title mix when it really matters.
