Sarri highlighted how many times Chelsea have struck the woodwork this season, which is more than any of the other Premier League sides, and he rated the display...

‘I am happy with our performance, because we stayed in the match very well. Probably a few months ago we would not have been able to stay in this kind of match, so we are improving. It is difficult in England to close the gap because the level here is very high. To close the gap on Liverpool and Man City especially will be very difficult but now we are really very close to the other teams.’



Sarri reported on Chelsea’s approach to the start of each half…

‘We were a little bit low in defending at the beginning of the second half but we also defended a little bit low at the start of the first half, because Liverpool are able to approach the start of the first and the second halves in a very strong way. So it is not easy to play against them in that moment.

‘If we were able to pass the first 10 minutes [of the second half] with the same result, in the last 20 or 25 minutes we could find a lot of spaces, because Liverpool needed to win, and so the target was to arrive in the last 20 to 25 minutes 0-0.’

