Liverpool triumphs over Chelsea with a crucial victory, reclaiming their position at the top of the Premier League standings in an intense match.
Liverpool demonstrated their Premier League title potential by defeating Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday, reclaiming the top spot in the table.
Mohamed Salah’s penalty and Curtis Jones’ decisive goal secured the Reds their 10th win in 11 games since Arne Slot became manager.
In the second half, Nicolas Jackson momentarily equalized for Chelsea, but they eventually fell to their first league defeat since losing to Manchester City on the season’s opening weekend.
With their victory, Liverpool moves one point ahead of City and four points in front of Arsenal, whom they will face at the Emirates next weekend.
Chelsea are now seven points away from the top, sitting in sixth place. However, their performance provided plenty of cause for optimism as they pushed Liverpool to their limits.
Liverpool’s sole loss under Slot occurred against Nottingham Forest after the international break in September.
In response, the Dutchman decided to keep all of his South American internationals—Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, and Darwin Nunez—on the bench this time due to their recent efforts across the Atlantic.
Choosing to give Jones only his second league start of the season turned out to be a brilliant decision, as the England international both earned Liverpool’s penalty and scored the winning goal.
Chelsea were lucky to still have all 11 players on the field after just six minutes, as Tosin Adarabioyo brought down Diogo Jota.
The Portuguese international was still far from the goal, but the incident closely resembled one where Arsenal defender William Saliba was sent off during a 2-0 loss at Bournemouth on Saturday.
After overcoming that scare, Chelsea found their rhythm and dominated possession, pushing the home side back.
Nevertheless, Liverpool’s speed on the counterattack consistently posed a danger, and Chelsea was exposed when Salah passed to Jones, who was brought down by Levi Colwill.
Salah confidently scored his 10th goal against his former club by converting the penalty.
A few moments later, Cody Gakpo finished off a swift Liverpool counter-attack. However, Salah was in an offside position before providing the assist.
On the opposite end, Jackson struck the intersection of the post and bar, marking Chelsea’s first indication of potency in their possession-based play.
However, Chelsea had another lucky break just before half-time when referee John Brooks initially awarded a penalty as Jones fell under a challenge from Robert Sanchez.
However, VAR stepped in after the Spanish goalkeeper touched the ball before making contact with Jones.
Just three minutes into the second half, the Blues equalized, aided once again by VAR assistance for the visitors.
Jackson picked up Moises Caicedo’s through ball and calmly slotted it past Caoimhin Kelleher, marking his fifth goal in eight Premier League appearances.
The Senegalese striker was initially called offside on the field, but replays revealed that Ibrahima Konate had actually kept him onside.
Liverpool quickly regained their lead within three minutes when Jones perfectly timed his run to control and skillfully flick in Salah’s cross.
Chelsea pressured Slot’s team to defend their lead for the last 40 minutes, but they found it difficult to generate clear-cut opportunities for an equalizer until seven minutes into stoppage time.
Renato Vega nodded just above the bar from Cole Palmer’s free-kick, and shortly after, Christopher Nkunku was unable to make a decisive connection with Pedro Neto’s enticing cross.
