Chelsea eased back into the top four with an impressive 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The result ensured Liverpool’s brief incursion into the Champions League qualifying spots lasted less than an hour.
The pressure appeared to be on Thomas Tuchel’s team, who briefly slipped to sixth place in the table after the champions’ 2-1 win over Aston Villa at Anfield.
Kai Havertz got himself on the scoresheet with a lovely finish in the eighth minute. The German midfielder found space in the box and he found the bottom corner with a delightful curled finish.
Havertz turned provider shortly after as he set up Christian Pulisic’s goal. The 21-year-old picked out Pulisic in the box, who would lash the ball into the roof of the net.
Chelsea would eventually go on to win 4-1. Kurt Zouma got Chelsea’s third on the half-hour mark as he powered home a header.
Christian Benteke got one back for the home side in the 63rd minute, only for Pulisic to score his second and make the points safe for Chelsea 15 minutes later.
After the West Brom disaster last week it was imperative that Chelsea hit the ground running at Selhurst Park.
Thomas Tuchel has talked a lot about precision since arriving in West London and that’s exactly what Chelsea showed against Palace. They maintained a 90% passing accuracy, compared to their 85% against West Brom.
Chelsea’s defence still looks vulnerable when teams press them on the ball, so there are clearly areas to work on.
