“You don’t try and take him on” - Jamie Carragher says Chelsea star shocked Liverpool with his performance in 0-0 draw
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes the Reds underestimated Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante in their Premier League clash on 4 April. The Englishman claims Jurgen Klopp's men forgot how good the French international was as he was sidelined due to injury for a large part of the season.
Carragher told Sky Sports (as quoted by Metro):
"It was almost as if some of the Liverpool players forgot who N’Golo Kante was and how good he is. You don’t try and take him on or better him physically. You just need to stay away from him really. Two or three times Liverpool players tried to take him on. He’s been out for so long that some of the Liverpool players seemed to forget what N’Golo Kante is all about."
Kante suffered a hamstring injury early into the 2022/23 campaign and has been sidelined since for the Blues. The former Leicester City midfielder has registered only four league appearances for the West London outfit this term.
The France international returned to Premier League action in Chelsea's goalless draw against the Reds last night (4 April). He put in a great performance against Jurgen Klopp's side and seems to have effortlessly slotted back into Chelsea's starting lineup.
The Blues are currently 11th in the league table amid dismal form this term. They recently sacked Graham Potter shortly after Sunday's 2-0 loss to Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Liverpool have had an underwhelming campaign as well. The Reds are currently eighth in the standings, seven points adrift of the top four.
"If there is any chance" - Jurgen Klopp speaks on Liverpool's top-four chances after goalless draw against Chelsea
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted that he is unsure of whether his side can finish in the top four this season. The German manager said after the Reds' encounter against Chelsea (per the club's official website):
"I don't know if there is any chance, for that we must win pretty much all the games and the other teams must lose a lot of games. It's not in our hands, I cannot say, what can I say about that? It's not important."
Chelsea vs. Liverpool: https://t.co/XtV9ALWuTi
He added:
"For that we have to win football games, because in the moment I don't even know where we are exactly. Eighth? Seventh? Ninth? I don't know – it's not interesting. We have another 10 games to play and the next one is Arsenal. Not the other nine, I am not interested in [those games]. But the next one is Arsenal, so if we are difficult to beat against Arsenal we can win this game. If not, Arsenal will just go over us and then we will see."
Chelsea are now searching for their next manager after Potter's sacking. Bruno Saltor has taken over as interim head coach in the meantime.
Chelsea will next face Wolverhampton Wanderers on 8 April while the Reds take on Arsenal the following day.