If there are many better pure footballing matches to come in this Premier League season, we are in for a treat. Not that the Chelsea manager, players and fans will care too much about being involved in a classic clash between two of the best sides in the division.
Liverpool, thanks to goals from Dejan Lovren and Jordan Henderson, were worthy winners against a below-par Chelsea side who only had Diego Costa's pull-back goal to show for their efforts.
Unusually for Chelsea, certainly on home turf, it was the visitors who dictated the tempo of the play in the opening stages and Liverpool were rewarded for their early enterprise after 16 minutes.
The Blues defence, with David Luiz making his second Chelsea debut, was conspicuous by its absence as Lovren drifted menacingly towards the six-yard box and finished with the composure of a seasoned striker.
'The man with the black eye has delivered one in the eye for Chelsea' quipped cheesy Sky commentator Martin Tyler after Lovren had coolly converted Philippe Coutinho's pin-point cross.
'Liverpool deserve it; Chelsea haven't started' added sidekick Gary Neville who then trotted out his favourite phrase of the moment - 'the Chelsea defenders were like mannequins' - which is how he described Manchester United's back line against City at the weekend. A bit more originality please Gary!
After a shaky start, Chelsea began to settle into their stride and a pattern of play which began to trouble Liverpool and a header from the returning Luiz after half an hour was their first worthwhile effort on goal.
Chelsea's main problem, apart from their defensive frailties, was not getting Diego Costa into the game and the stroppy Spaniard cut an increasingly frustrated figure. Even more so when Liverpool extended their lead ten minutes before the break.
And what a goal it was by Henderson, a player I have described to friends as 'one of the worst finishers in the Premier League'. I'm eating humble pie as well as my words after this.
Just as Chelsea were starting to get a belated foothold in the game, Liverpool slipped back into gear and Henderson's finish from all of 25 yards was simply too good; too precise even for the giant Thibault Courtois to get anywhere near.
Daniel Sturridge, playing against his former club, was replaced before the hour mark by Divock Origi - an injury scare or a precautionary message on the part of the caring Klopp? We will wait and see.
Chelsea, who were 'looking leggy' according to Sky 'expert' Neville, fought their way back into the game after an hour when Costa turned home a cross from the impressive Matic who was head and shoulders, literally, above his lack-lustre colleagues.
It was a rare touch from the 'angry man' but a potentially vital one. And Costa was then denied by Simon Mignolet as the Blues, finally, showed their true colours. Suddenly, it was Klopp not Conte who was prowling the technical area with the greater cause for concern.
After a period of Chelsea pressure, however, Liverpool regained their composure and control and with the home side taking risks they exposed themselves to the counter-attack.
Sub Origi could, and should, have taken advantage but fluffed his lines as Courtois saved his header.
Conte launched a massive salvage operation with a triple substitution seven minutes from the end of normal time but to no avail. Not so much a case of 'too little too soon' as 'too much not soon enough'. Take a bow, the boys in Red; the boys from the black stuff.
Dave Smith
Source: DSG
