Liverpool cemented their position at the top of the Premier League table with a 2-1 win away to Chelsea.
Goals from Trent Alexander Arnold and Roberto Firmino saw the European champions lead 2-0 at half time, but the hosts responded with a brilliant Ngolo Kante solo goal.
Chelsea huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser, but all their attempts were denied by stubborn Reds defending the lead in particular by Joel Matip and Andrew Robertson to seal to their sixth successive Premier League win of the season.
Liverpool began the game with the intensity of a team looking to avenge their midweek defeat to Napoli.
The Reds’ dominance was rewarded in the 13th minute when Alexander Arnold brilliantly found the top corner of the Chelsea net from a free-kick.
Fabinho won the ball and surged forward through the heart of the Chelsea midfield before he passed and released Sadio Mané. The Senegalese forward was then wrestled to the ground by Andreas Christensen and the free-kick was awarded. From the set-piece, just outside the box, Mohamed Salah — clearly in a training ground routine — knocked it into the path of Alexander Arnold and the right-back rifled it past Kepa for a deserved lead for the Reds.
The European Champions were dominant, but they were almost brought back down to earth in the 23rd minute. Christensen’s pass sent Tammy Abraham, who looked marginally offside, through on goal. The inform striker bore down on Adrian’s goal, but the Spaniard’s agility off his line saw him save Adrian’s attempt.
Jurgen Klopp’s men had another close call soon after when Cesar Azpilicueta scored for the hosts. This goal, however, was messy in nature was disallowed after a VAR consultation correctly adjudged Mason Mount to be offside.
Azpilicueta’s misery was soon compounded when the former Marseille full-back fouled Georginio Wijnaldum on the left-hand side. Another premeditated set-piece routine saw Robertson pick out Firmino in the box and the Brazilian rose above Marcos Alonso to head home from close range.
The Reds, who looked relatively comfortable, held that lead at the interval.
Liverpool began the second half with a similar intensity. Only for the heroics of Kepa, the table-toppers would have further extended their lead.
The Spaniard first pushed away a Firmino drive and then denied the Reds notching an own goal. The move, which saw Fabinho pick out Alexander Arnold for the right back to cross across the face of goal, was wrongly called offside but Kepa deserves plaudits for his lightning reactions.
The match went through a lull before a Ngolo Kante wonder goal reignited the contest. The diminutive French midfielder went on a slaloming run before unleashing a powerful strike into the top right corner with Adrian beaten all ends up.
The hosts, who were full of endeavour, lacked the requisite final ball and a lot of their attacks stemmed from speculative crosses. Batshuayi headed close from an Alonso cross before moments later Mason Mount repeated the trick by blazing over.
The Blues kept probing, but their efforts were in vain as Liverpool held on for the maximum points.
Liverpool Team: Adrian; Alexander Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Henderson; Salah, Firmino, Mane. Substitutions; Milner for Mane, Lallana for Henderson, Gomez for Salah.
