Opinion: Chelsea Draw Proved Liverpool Desperately Need A New Forward

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Liverpool were all over the visitors, but couldn’t clinch winner…

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Everyone, barring perhaps Jose Mourinho, would agree that Liverpool absolutely battered Chelsea last night in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final.

The statistics are damning.

Twenty efforts on goal versus one for the underdogs, but going into the 2nd leg next week, the Blues will be favourites, having left Anfield with a 1-1 draw.

Liverpool deployed Raheem Sterling in a false-9 position, but arguably the world’s best young player proved with his goal that he’s more effective when running from deep. Finding a pocket of space between Chelsea’s midfield and defence, Sterling turned, ran, jinked and finished with aplomb. During the rest of the match when he was standing on the last defender, he was sometimes bullied due to his diminutive physical stature. While he did excellently against the best defence in the country, you can’t help but think he could have been even more dangerous had he been used in attacking midfield instead.

If he had been, alongside the equally mercurial Coutinho, Liverpool would have been forced to play either Fabio Borini or Rickie Lambert up top.

Mario Balotelli’s Liverpool career is clearly on a hiding to nothing, and it would be foolish to rely on the seemingly forever injured Daniel Sturridge.

If the Reds had a forward even half as potent as Chelsea’s Diego Costa (17 goals so far this season), they’d have likely embarrassed Chelsea.

Something needs doing. If not now, then in the summer. Desperately.

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