Eden Hazard and Chelsea missed Cesc Fabregas in Liverpool draw

Why Eden Hazard missed Cesc Fabregas during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

Chelsea earned a creditable point at Anfield on Saturday when they battled back to draw 1-1 with Liverpool. The result kept the Blues third in the Premier League, but it came despite a stunted performance from their best player.

Eden Hazard just wasn’t himself against the Reds. Sure, the classy No. 10 tried to open his bag of tricks on Merseyside.

He was full of running and always willing to take on players. Yet try as he might, Hazard couldn’t quite conjure the usual magic.

The reason was simple: Hazard missed the ingenuity of Cesc Fabregas. In fact, the whole Chelsea team lacked the creative spark Fabregas usually provides.

Fabregas didn’t enter the fray until the 74th minute, with Chelsea already trailing 1-0 to a Mohamed Salah goal. The Spaniard made the most of his 16-plus minutes, though, as he immediately added the qualities Chelsea had been lacking.

Fabregas’ vision and technique helped release runners behind the Liverpool defence. Before his introduction, the Blues had struggled to play their way through the home side’s relentless pressing.

Hazard in particular looked lost without Fabregas and his ability to pick out the Belgium international’s runs with through passes. Fabregas’ radar has grown in importance for Chelsea and Hazard since the latter’s position has changed this season.

Specifically, manager Antonio Conte has moved Hazard off the wing recently. Now he plays more as a de facto striker alongside Alvaro Morata.

Conte has been pleased with the switch, especially since it allows the Blues to switch between 3-4-2-1 and 3-5-2 formations, per Joe Shread of Sky Sports:

"Now I think Eden is in really good form and I think he likes to play as a striker. There is a good link with Alvaro and for me also it’s a great opportunity to play with two different systems."

Playing further forward has meant Hazard needs a different kind of supply. He needs passes he can run onto, rather than those usually played to his feet out on the wings.

Hazard now needs to have chances created for him instead of making his own opportunities through skill and trickery on the ball. Fabregas and his peerless ability to exploit defensive gaps has been the key figure in helping Hazard master the switch to striker.

Not having Fabregas in the side for most of the match at Anfield meant Hazard had to drop off the front. He had to drift deeper to get on the ball and then try to make his own chances.

Hazard’s need to hunt for the ball rather than receive it was summed up by how often he had to take on the Liverpool defence himself, per WhoScored.com:

All of Hazard’s endeavour couldn’t break Liverpool down. It was no coincidence Chelsea finally made the breakthrough with Fabregas on the pitch.

One of the 30-year-old pass-master’s first actions after coming off the substitutes bench was to send Morata behind the Liverpool defence. The linesman’s flag was raised, but the ball over the top proved Chelsea were better equipped to stretch the opposition.

A deftly weighted and precise diagonal soon set left wing-back Marcos Alonso free inside the box. Fabregas continued to fashion chances the way he has for most of this season.

Writing for the league’s official website, Adrian Clarke detailed Fabregas’ creative output: “The only player who has made more than his 25 chances with a better minutes-per-key pass ratio is Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil.”

Clarke also pointed out how including Fabregas has altered Chelsea’s tactical shape: “Of late Chelsea have lined up in a 3-5-1-1, or 3-1-4-1-1 shape to be more precise, and Conte’s desire to make best use of Cesc Fabregas is perhaps why.”

Conte mistakenly junked his Fabregas-led approach at Anfield. Instead, he added Danny Drinkwater alongside N’Golo Kante and the struggling Tiemoue Bakayoko in the middle.

Next: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Premier League highlights and recap

The Chelsea boss cited rotation and fatigue as reasons for dropping Fabregas, per David Wright of the Daily Star.

But the decision was also no doubt based on a desire to be more defensive and physical to control Liverpool’s pace, fluid movement and pressing.

Yet the less forward-thinking central trio stunted Hazard’s ability to be a match-winner. The Fabregas-Hazard double act was decisive in the 1-0 win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge earlier this month.

Their combination must be maintained if Chelsea are going to stay in touch with leaders Manchester City in the title race.