Heading into this round of Premier League fixtures, Liverpool had held a five-point lead at the top of the table – but after Arsenal and Manchester City had emerged victorious in their respective matches, Jürgen Klopp’s men would need three points to preserve their comfortable margin.
LIV: Alisson; Gomez, van Dijk, Konaté, Bradley; Jones, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai; Díaz, Núñez, Jota
CHE: Petrović; Chilwell, Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Disasi; Fernández, Caicedo; Sterling, Gallagher, Madueke; Palmer
Liverpool sought to pile the pressure onto Chelsea’s defence from the very start on Wednesday evening, with Darwin Núñez twice striking the woodwork before Diogo Jota danced through defenders to smash home from Conor Bradley’s pass in the 23rd minute.
Against a Chelsea side that was seemingly picking up yellow cards for fun, Bradley would then net a goal of his own in the 39th minute – racing into the penalty area and planting a forceful effort into the far corner.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe hosts should have added a third goal from the spot after Diogo Jota was felled inside the box, but Núñez struck the post again – forcing the Reds to settle for a two-goal lead at the break.
Dominik Szoboszlai found that elusive third goal with a header just after the hour mark, with Bradley registering yet another assist as he teed up the Hungarian.
Christopher Nkunku was able to find a consolatory goal a little over five minutes later, but any joy that Chelsea may have taken from it was quickly zapped away when Luis Díaz found the back of the net with a strike from close-range.
These two sides will meet again at Wembley Stadium in the Carabao Cup Final next month. Before that though, Chelsea host Wolves and Liverpool travel to Arsenal on Sunday.