Chelsea avoid unwanted history with comeback at Anfield before FA Cup final

Chelsea spent six minutes on the edge of an embarrassing footnote at Anfield. Ryan Gravenberch’s early strike had them staring at a seventh straight league defeat, which would have made them the first side in English football history to head into an FA Cup final on that kind of losing run, but Enzo Fernández’s 35th-minute free-kick dragged them back to 1-1 and at least ensured they would not arrive at Wembley on the back of another loss.

The change was not only emotional. Calum McFarlane switched Chelsea to a back three for the first time in his interim spell, and only the fourth time all season, with Levi Colwill making his first start in 10 months and Wesley Fofana beside him. Colwill’s return gave Chelsea cleaner build-up play and a calmer platform from which to attack, while the emphasis on the left side through Marc Cucurella repeatedly exposed Liverpool’s right flank.

Once Chelsea settled after the opener, the numbers showed a side that had rediscovered some authority. They finished the first half with 16 touches in Liverpool’s box to the hosts’ four, Palmer had a goal ruled out for offside, and Fernández went close again before the break, all of it pointing to a team that stopped reacting and started dictating. Liverpool still hit the woodwork twice, but Chelsea had already done enough to change the mood around a match that had begun with a sixth-minute setback.

That is why the point mattered as much as the performance. Chelsea remained ninth and still have work to do if they are to salvage anything from the league, but the draw ended a six-game Premier League losing streak, steadied an interim coach under pressure and offered a possible template for next Saturday’s final against Manchester City. If the response at Anfield was a one-off surge of defiance, it still bought Chelsea time; if McFarlane can repeat the structure, the back three and the left-sided overloads may become the first credible blueprint for a team that has spent too long unraveling.