Chelsea have won again, and again at Anfield against Liverpool. They are simply unbeatable this season, as their record shows.
Brendan Rodgers risked his weakened team at Madrid to try and win against Chelsea. He has failed to win against Chelsea.
Whereas Chelsea cannot be beaten this season, Liverpool have now lost three in a row.
The final minutes will confirm that Liverpool should have had a penalty, but Chelsea were the better team.
Diego Costa took his chance well in the 67th minute, and aside from the penalty claim, Liverpool did little to try and get something from this.
FINAL SCORE:
Liverpool 1
Chelsea 2
Runaway leaders Chelsea can go seven points clear at the top of the English Premier League table this weekend, as they travel north to face out-of-form Liverpool. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 11:45pm (AEDT).
Having endured only the occasional draw to mar an otherwise perfect domestic and European campaign thus far, Chelsea return to a ground where memories good and bad persist for Jose Mourinho.
The bad would be losing two Champions League semi-finals in his first spell as Chelsea boss, where his tactical acumen and stubbornness was returned in kind and defeated by Rafael Benitez.
The good though consists of numerous Premier League and other domestic cup victories, none more sweet than the events of six-and-a-half months ago.
There was nothing to be gained for The Special One and his team when Chelsea defeated Liverpool 2-0 last April. The Premier League title had already slipped from their grasp, and European elimination was also forthcoming.
But the competitive pleasure that Mourinho got from executing his gameplan of time wasting to perfection denied a then pugnacious and zestful Liverpool a result that could have secured their first Premier League title.
Much of the post-match rhetoric focused on ‘the slip’, which brings us to discussing the other team in this intriguing equation.
Not much has gone right for Liverpool since Steven Gerrard lost his footing that day. If the slip lost Liverpool their ascendancy, then the ensuing defensive meltdown at Crystal Palace lost them the title.
Since then, Liverpool fans have had to watch their inspiration Luis Suarez shame himself yet again, only to then be jettisoned to Barcelona. Now they endure a season where the financial outlay has significantly and troublingly outweighed the on-field impact.
If that is not bad enough, they’ve had to endure the at-times comical impostor they have in Suarez’s place, only to then look south and see how Chelsea have built a title-winning team while also generating a profit in the transfer market.
Both teams fielded weakened teams in their European sojourns midweek, but while Chelsea can attribute that to their draw against Maribor, Liverpool arguably performed far better against Real Madrid with a team better suited for League Cup duty than they would have with an 11 featuring Gerrard, Raheem Sterling or Philippe Coutinho.
This likely creates a selection problem for Brendan Rodgers, in that his team’s desperate search for defensive stability is now coupled with a failure to score in their last 180 minutes of football. No such worries for Mourinho, as Diego Costa, Gary Cahill and Thibaut Courtois are likely to return for the Blues.
There is no victory on Saturday that can dilute Liverpool’s pain last April, nor will it heavily damage Chelsea’s season, given their current position.
All that can gained for Brendan Rodgers is a sign of better things to come, while a win for Chelsea goes further to what is taking shape as a season of triumph at Stamford Bridge.
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
FULLTIME: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea I'll bring the International between Japan and Australia on November 18. Join me then. The final score from Anfield was Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
FULLTIME: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea This win takes Chelsea seven points clear of Southampton, obviously with one game extra played. Yet this lead is taking on proportions where you can tentatively say they may be champions-elect. Talk of an Invincibles season cannot be discounted either. Liverpool lick their wounds into the international break. They will welcome back Daniel Sturridge upon the Premier League's resumption, which is likely the only positive that can be gleaned currently for the club. FULLTIME: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
FULLTIME: Chelsea have won again, and again at Anfield. They are simply unbeatable this season, as the record shows. Brendan Rodgers risked his weakened team at Madrid to try and win against Chelsea. He has failed to win against Chelsea. Whereas Chelsea cannot be beaten this season, Liverpool have now lost three in a row. The final minutes will confirm that Liverpool should have had a penalty, but Chelsea were the better team. Diego Costa took his chance well in the 67th minute, and aside from the penalty claim, Liverpool did little to try and get something from this. FULLTIME: Liverpool 1-2 Chelsea
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'90+4: Yellow card for Thibaut Courtois for time wasting on the goalkick ensuing from Borini's miss. We are into the final minute of stoppage time, and Chelsea should now see this out. Talk will centre on the decision to not award the penalty, as Hazard is brought off Felipe Luis. He has a minute to see this out. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'90+3: Borini over the top! The space developed for Lambert to cross in, but it was overcooked above Sterling, and in the end, Borini's header was well over Courtois. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'90+1: Five minutes added time confirmed, as Felipe Luis is about to be introduced to see this out for Chelsea. Liverpool simply have not done enough, regardless of the decision not to award what is looking now a crucial decision by Anthony Taylor not to grant a penalty for Cahill's handball. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'90: Costa will be taken off for Didier Drogba. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'89: Replay showed Cahill definitely motioned towards the ball there, but that looked possibly the strongest of all the penalty claims we've seen. Liverpool should be overlooking a spot kick right now, as Costa is on the ground. That duel with Skrtel has not abated, as now Costa sees treatment. All part of the Mourinho master plan, I'm sure. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'88: Handball call by Liverpool, vociferously approved by the Kop. The ref waves it away! Henderson now attempts a cross that Courtois gathers. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'87: Costa now fouls Johnson, who was running backwards to regather possession. Yellow for the striker. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'83: Fabregas shown the card for firstly attempting a two-foot challenge that missed Johnson, and then lunging into the Englishman further upfield. Yellow cards are no barrier for Chelsea. Liverpool are looking stronger into the final stretch, but they have not tested Courtois at all this second half. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'81: Sterling has an arm around Hazard, and referee Taylor is kind by not showing Sterling a second yellow card there. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'80: Lambert replaces Balotelli. What can a man who has been so sparingly used do against Chelsea's defence? Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'78: Balotelli earns a corner at the Kop End. Rickie Lambert being readied by Brendan Rodgers. Oscar heads clear Gerrard's corner. Liverpool have gained a foothold since the substitutions. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'75: Deflected over Courtois! It was a double deflection, and Liverpool have a corner. It wasn't well executed, and then a sharp counter sees Mignolet having to charge and hoof the ball out of Hazard's way before his countryman can score a matchwinning third goal for Chelsea. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'69: Matic enters the book after sliding into Johnson. Double change for Liverpool, as Fabio Borini and Joe Allen are brought on for Philippe Coutinho and the goalscorer Emre Can. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'68: It was Coutinho's failure to properly stop Azpilicueta's run that enabled the Spaniard to get a wicked cross away. Mignolet got a touch to it, and then a deflection from Moreno fell kindly to Costa, who smashed the ball home from five yards! Chelsea look to be heading back to London with three points here, unless something drastically changes for Liverpool. Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'67: COSTA SCORES! Chelsea get their second goal, and they are cruising! Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'66: Since scoring, Liverpool have barely troubled Thibaut Courtois. For me, there is only one possible winner from here. Chelsea can live with a point. You suspect Liverpool can't, given the dire way their season has gone. 1-1
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
'63: Replays show Moreno stood his ground while Ivanovic leapt to meet a ball. But there was little to suggest anything sinister, other than Ivanovic looks to be exaggerating the nature of the occurrence. The play went on, and Balotelli was offside, which means Courtois will resume affairs. Balotelli barges into the back of Oscar, and gives away a free kick in a wonderful position for Chelsea. It is a poor brainless piece of work from the Italian. 1-1