Chelsea boosted their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League with a 3-1 victory over champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Enzo Fernandez struck after just three minutes before Jarrell Quansah’s second-half own goal doubled Chelsea's lead. Virgil van Dijk’s late header pulled a goal back but Cole Palmer had the final say, ending a four-month goal drought when netting a 96th-minute penalty.
Chelsea remain fifth but now have a three-point cushion over sixth-place Nottingham Forest, who play Crystal Palace on Monday. Chelsea are also level on points with fourth-placed Newcastle United, whom they play at St James' Park next weekend.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 84 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +35 | 74 |
| 3 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +28 | 71 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
38 | +21 | 69 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
38 | +21 | 66 |
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
38 | +7 | 66 |
| 7 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | +12 | 65 |
How the match unfolded
The Blues opened the scoring after just three minutes. Palmer led a swift counter before finding Pedro Neto, whose low cross was neatly controlled and finished by Fernandez.
Liverpool looked to respond, with Cody Gakpo calling Robert Sanchez into action from a tight angle, while Neto hit the side-netting at the other end.
Chelsea thought they had doubled their lead just before half-time when Noni Madueke rounded Alisson and slotted home. However, the joy was short-lived with Nicolas Jackson penalised for offside during the build-up.
The hosts did get their second goal in fortuitous circumstances 11 minutes after the restart, as Van Dijk’s attempted clearance from a Palmer cross ricocheted off Quansah and back into the net.
Palmer struck a post from a tight angle, before Liverpool’s late pressure at the other end eventually culminated in Van Dijk powering home from Alexis Mac Allister’s corner.
But Liverpool's hopes of averting only their third league defeat of the season faded deep into stoppage time, when Palmer slotted home from the spot after Quansah felled Moises Caicedo.
Blues burst out of the blocks to thwart champions
Seeking a third straight Premier League win, Enzo Maresca named an unchanged starting XI for the first time since November, against Manchester United.
After giving the new champions a "Guard of Honour", the Blues’ confidence was evident as they were quick out of the blocks and soon ahead through Fernandez. Timed at two minutes and 47 seconds, it was their earliest league goal since Antonio Rudiger netted just 14 seconds earlier against Stoke City in December 2017.
Chelsea continued to be positive and, though the offside flag denied Madueke, they eventually gained breathing space through Quansah’s own goal.
The hosts’ concentration levels were tested as Liverpool increased the pressure in search for a way back into the game.
Despite Van Dijk halving their advantage, Chelsea never really looked like surrendering it, and put the contest to bed with virtually the last kick of the game, as Palmer capped a fine individual performance by ending his 18-match goal drought.
Attention now turns to the second leg of the Conference League semi-final against Djurgarden, before their Champions League qualification quest resumes at St James’ Park against top-five rivals Newcastle United.
Rotated Reds suffer rare defeat
Fresh from securing their second Premier League title last weekend, Arne Slot’s much-changed side received a guard of honour as they made their way onto the Stamford Bridge turf.
There were six alterations in all and the Reds were slow to settle, with Chelsea punishing them by striking inside just three minutes.
Aside from Gakpo’s half-chance, Liverpool struggled to generate a decent attacking threat over the remainder of the first half.
Slot’s side were much-improved after falling 2-0 behind, with Van Dijk and Darwin Nunez off target from headers.
Their pressure eventually told when Van Dijk made no mistake five minutes from time. However, it was too late to avert a third defeat in four visits to London.
A disappointing afternoon for Quansah continued when he caught Caicedo late, allowing Palmer to seal the points for the hosts.
Slot will be eager for his side to finish the season with improvement, starting next weekend against second-place Arsenal at Anfield.
Club reports
Chelsea report | Liverpool report
What the managers said
Enzo Maresca: "Very important three points, especially at this stage in the season. We planned the game to be aggressive, playing the way we want and they forced us to use a different plan. The players adapted quite well. For the amount of chances that we created, we deserved to win the game. Chelsea has to fight for Champions League and hopefully in the future we can fight for something more important. In this moment we are there and hopefully we can finish there."
Arne Slot: "For many things I didn't see a drop off. Today, we could see why we have won this league - we brought the ball out from the back really well. We came back after being 2-0 down and we didn't give up, but I have said before margins are small. In some moments a few percentages were not there."
Remaining PL fixtures
Key facts
Liverpool are only the fourth team to lose their first league match after they were crowned Premier League champions after Arsenal in 1997/98 (vs Liverpool), Chelsea in 2005/06 (vs Blackburn) and the Reds themselves in 2019/20 (vs Manchester City).
Chelsea recorded a victory over Liverpool for the first time since March 2021, ending a run of 10 matches without a win against the Reds in all competitions (D7 L3).
Only John Terry (19) and Dion Dublin (14) have scored more headed goals from corners in Premier League history than Van Dijk (13). The Liverpool captain is the top scoring defender in the competition since his first full season with the Reds in 2018/19 (21).
Palmer ended a run of 1,162 minutes without a goal in the Premier League – he had the most shots (5), created the most chances (4), made the joint-most passes ending in the final third (13), and had the joint-most touches in the opposition box (8) of any Chelsea player in today’s win over Liverpool.
