Chelsea 1 – 3 Liverpool (half-time 1-1)
A fitting Halloween horror show ensured that the pressure on Jose Mourinho's Chelsea shows little sign of abating in the near future. Victory over fellow Champions League place chasing Liverpool would have assuaged some concerns within the camp. Instead they slumped to a demoralising 3-1 home defeat.
Early Blues’ promise fizzled away
The outlook looked far healthier early on when Ramires headed the home side ahead on 4 minutes. But the Reds were level in injury time at the end of the first-half, as the mercurial Philippe Coutinho unleashed another of his trademark strikes from distance.
The Brazilian grabbed his second after the break thanks to a deflection off John Terry and another vital strike from substitute Christian Benteke ensured the first all-three pointer under Klopp's control for the northern side.
Lucas lucky to not be red carded
Although Chelsea may have had a strong case for feeling that Lucas Leiva was fortunate to not pick up a second yellow card, the overall result was merited by the visitors. Despite the early disappointment, they continued to display the typically all-action work ethic demanded by manager Jurgen Klopp throughout.
Pressure building on Chelsea
The defeat piles the pressure on to the already beleaguered Chelsea boss and the odds against him lasting the season shorten with every poor result.
Champions League qualification (once something taken for granted by fans at the Bridge) now seems to be a long way off. The reigning Premier League champions now lie a miserable 15th in the Premier League, albeit with plenty of matches to turn things around. Worryingly they have now lost six league matches already, not far short of the total number of losses they would expect for an entire season in previous campaigns.
Struggling on all fronts
Mourinho was unstinting afterwards in the defence of his side's efforts, claiming that the match had been ‘50/50’ in his view for much of the time. Their defence of the League Cup was ended by Stoke City earlier in the week and their Champions League group form has been patchy at best. Yet he seems unlikely to resign and the board have only recently given him their backing.
Liverpool gaining momentum
Klopp's Reds by contrast seem to be finally finding some form, after too many early season draws for the fans' liking. Optimism will no doubt heighten for their chances of gatecrashing the top four places this season with more eye-catching results like this one. Victory pushed them up to seventh in the Premier League and perhaps more importantly, just four points away from that coveted top-four place.
By contrast to the Blues, Liverpool still retain an interest in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals, with a tricky journey to Southampton already etched into their supporters'memory banks.
For Chelsea the league results need to be turned around quickly. Otherwise it may be ‘Adeus’ to Mourinho and 'Ola' to someone else at Stamford Bridge sooner rather than later.
