Chelsea's midfield has made a big difference. The 3-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge is another sign that the Blues are finally good in midfield.
This is a long journey for Chelsea to achieve the results they have today, and also have a close relationship with Liverpool. Both teams are actively chasing Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia in 2023.
Caicedo remains the most expensive player in England after completing a £115m transfer deal from Brighton to The Blues that summer. The midfielder surpassed Chelsea's previous record when he completed a £106.8m transfer deal for Enzo Fernandez.
Lavia also moved to west London for £58 million from Southampton. However, affected by injuries, the player has only made 10 Premier League appearances for Chelsea in the last 2 seasons.
Against Liverpool, this was only the sixth time Lavia, Enzo and Caicedo have started together for Chelsea. This combination proved to be too much for Liverpool and was the foundation for the victory to help The Blues continue on their way to qualifying for the Champions League they craved.
Coach Enzo Maresca has unusually arranged all three players, choosing Caicedo as a right-back for the third consecutive match, allowing Lavia and Enzo to form a dynamic, fighting central midfield duo.
For Liverpool, the absence of midfielder trio Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai has left them behind Chelsea. No matter how hard they try, Curtis Jones, Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott are all poor substitutes.
Slot will never criticize a team that has just won Liverpool's 20th top-flight championship. However, he admitted that they "had missed a little bit of what we usually have".
Enzo showed his presence after only 3 minutes, receiving a pass from Pedro Neto and firing a shot to defeat goalkeeper Alisson Becker. This was the Argentine's 20th goal of the season, and another proof that he is on the rise. Remember, Enzo started this year's campaign by apologizing to his teammates after posting a racial video.
Lavia is a strong player when healthy. That warning has become a major problem in various problems, including hamstrings, ankles and thighs, causing Lavia's promising career to be questioned.
"You can see us as a better team for Romeo. Unfortunately, you can see that he has been injured for most of the season. Maybe at this time, the difference between us and many other clubs is that we have many important players injured.
Romeo is one of them. Today he has shown once again his importance to the team and how good he is," said Maresca.
Enzo's goal was Liverpool's fastest goal conceded in the whole season. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer has ended a 13-match streak without scoring.
Palmer has had the most shots (5), created the most chances (4) and had the most touches in the opposition box (8) than any other Chelsea player. However, he himself has no doubt about who is the most important character.
"When you have Caicedo in front of you, it's a dream. Since the beginning of the season, he has been our best player. He always got the ball back, was humble, kind to everyone and everyone loved him," Palmer said of his teammate.
Chelsea's season has yet to determine whether it will be a success or a failure with a lot of work to do, but the hope for a positive result will be greater when Caicedo, Lavia and Enzo can play like this.
Three points are very important, especially at this stage of the season. Liverpool have shown why they are such a good team. They forced us to defend deep, which we did not want.
We planned to play offensively, play the way we wanted and they forced us to use another plan. The players have adapted quite well. With the number of chances we created, we deserved to win," Maresca added.
