Chelsea Draw at Liverpool to End Seven-Game Premier League Losing Streak

Marc Cucurella praised Chelsea's fighting spirit after they ended a run of seven straight Premier League defeats with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool and offered a tactical blueprint for next week's FA Cup final.

The Blues faced becoming the first team in English football history to lose seven consecutive league matches before a Wembley showpiece when they fell 1-0 behind. Ryan Gravenberch curled home a sixth-minute opener, but Chelsea leveled when Enzo Fernandez's free kick drifted in.

With Manchester City waiting in the FA Cup final on Saturday, left-back Cucurella said his side needed the same drive and determination to end a troubled season with silverware.

"I think the effort today was really good," he told TNT Sports. "I don't think it was probably our best moments, but we showed if we play together then we have a good level. We are happy that we showed we're a really good team if we put in the effort and fight together. Hopefully we can win a bit of confidence from this game because next week we have a massive game."

These have been depressing weeks for Chelsea. They slipped out of the Champions League race, boss Liam Rosenior departed amid suggestions the players had stopped responding to his approach, and they lost 3-1 at home to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in interim head coach Calum McFarlane's first game.

McFarlane needed to stop the bleeding. He did so with a performance that earned applause from the away support at Anfield.

The draw may have revealed an approach for the season-defining game against City, even if Pep Guardiola's side will start as favorites and pose a greater challenge than Liverpool.

McFarlane lined Chelsea up in a back three for the first time in his interim spell, and only the fourth time overall this season. Under Rosenior, they lost twice against Premier League opposition in the system and only narrowly beat Wrexham in the FA Cup. The shape, never used by Enzo Maresca during his 18-month spell, had little to recommend it.

Defender Levi Colwill's return for his first start in 10 months, since the FIFA Club World Cup final, brought composure in possession and stability when building from the back.

"I thought Levi was the best player on the pitch," McFarlane said. "He gives you the ability to play out from the back, he's a leader and that was his first 90 minutes in a long time."

The 23-year-old England centre-back returned alongside Wesley Fofana, who had previously been left out by McFarlane, in a partnership he enjoys. Dutchman Jorrel Hato was also recalled after performing consistently during a difficult run.

The system let Cucurella push higher as an attacking wing-back, exploiting makeshift Liverpool full-back Curtis Jones. Cole Palmer, short of form, looked brighter and went close to ending a 10-game goalless club run with an effort ruled out for a marginal offside against Cucurella.

It offered a solution for a side missing four senior wingers and forced to name 17-year-old academy attackers Mathis Eboue and Ryan Kavuma-McQueen on the bench.

Chelsea hope Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro Neto will return to face City, while captain Reece James made his first appearance in almost a month as a substitute.

Last summer Chelsea beat the champions of Spain, Italy, England and France en route to Club World Cup success against Paris Saint-Germain, proof they can win one-off games against elite opposition.

The Premier League picture remains bleak for a side expected to reach the Champions League. Fifth place is out of reach. They have no clean sheet in 14 top-flight matches, their longest run since 15 games between March and May 1979, and one win in their last 11 league games.

After the dismal 3-1 home defeat to a second-string Forest, McFarlane took a positive tone. "We got the reaction we wanted and hopefully we can build on that," he added. "It was a good point and a good performance. It was a game that could have gone either way. We had moments to win it, which was disappointing in that respect, but it was a much-improved performance and I'm pleased."

With the 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Leeds at Wembley, McFarlane has shown he can set up a side under pressure, something that may aid a trophy push.