Mateo Kovacic and Christian Pulisic eased the loss of Romelu Lukaku’s omission as Chelsea battled to a pulsating 2-2 Premier League draw with Covid-hit Liverpool. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah catapulted Liverpool into a commanding 2-0 lead inside half an hour, only for Kovacic and Pulisic to fire a four-minute response before half-time. Thomas Tuchel dropped club-record signing Lukaku, with the fallout from the Belgian’s recent interview claiming unhappiness in London deemed “too noisy” in the build-up to facing title rivals Liverpool. And the Chelsea boss will take partial vindication as the Blues clawed their way back from the brink to earn a point and hold on to second place in the table. The Reds pitched up at Stamford Bridge with their own problems too, with manager Jurgen Klopp, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, defender Joel Matip and forward Roberto Firmino absent due to suspected positive Covid-19 tests. Player ratings from the match can be seen in the picture gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.