Diego Costa could find himself in trouble ...
The Chelsea striker should have been sent off for lashing out at Martin Skrtel with his foot as the pair went to ground during a tussle, but Mark Clattenburg didn’t appear to see the incident in question and if that’s the case, Costa could get retrospectively punished by the FA. According to Howard Webb, it’s “a clear red card for an act of violent conduct”, but he reckons the FA may not take action because Clattenburg did appear to have a good view of the incident.
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Jose Mourinho has nothing to say
Faced by a microphone wielding Des Kelly, he gives an extraordinary interview to BT Sport. He answers each question with a variation of “I have nothing to say! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!”. Upon being asked if the fans perhaps deserve an explanation from their team’s manager, he says “the fans aren’t stupid ... the fans aren’t stupid”. So there you have it, Jose Mourinho has nothing to say! Hallelujah!
Liverpool were thoroughly deserving winners
Despite their shaky start, Liverpool could scarcely have won this match more emphatically. They really took Chelsea to school for long periods of the game , but were helped by some risible defending by the home side. Much more will be written about where and how it’s all going wrong at Chelsea, but claims from Stamford Bridge that Jose Mourinho still has the faith and support of all his players are looking increasingly spurious with each awful performance. Jose Mourinho said before this game that his team are not getting the rewards their performances deserve. They got exactly what their performance deserved this afternoon.
Full time at Stamford Bridge: Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool
Peep! Peep! Peeeep! It’s all over at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have lost their ninth game of the season. They got off to a good start, taking the lead through Ramires, but two goals from Philippe Coutinho and one from Christian Benteke means Liverpool take all three points back to Anfield.
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90+2 min: The camera cuts to Jose Mourinho, who looks very confused and bewildered by this latest setback to blight Chelsea’s title defence. Not for the first time this season, he looks completely bereft of ideas or solutions.
90 min: Philippe Coutinho is announced as the man of the match, having helped Liverpool to victory with his first ever Premier League brace. On a hat-trick, he gallops down the left, cuts inside and unleashes a low drive that goes out off a Chelsea defender for a corner. Nothing comes of it. Liverpool substitution: Adam Lallana off, Dejan Lovren on.
88 min: Plenty of Chelsea’s supporters have left Stamford Bridge, but their players haven’t thrown in the towel. Ramires has looked lively in his attempts to claw back a goal for his team, but the jig is very much up for Chelsea.
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87 min: “Chelsea, defensively, are absolutely woeful,” says Trevor Francis in the BT Sport commentary box. Moments previously, he said that “it’s sad to see John Terry now, because his legs have gone and he looks like an old man out there”. Ouch.
83 min: Christian Benteke seemed to have all the time in the world as he took advantage of a clever dummy from Adam Lallana to take possession in the penalty area, shuffle forwards a few paces unimpeded by the three Chelsea defenders between him and the goalkeeper and then rifle a shot through the legs of Gary Cahill, who was diving to block his effort. The ball took a deflection off the Chelsea defender, but probably would have gone in anyway.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-3 Liverpool (Benteke 82)
More slapstick defending from Chelsea as Christian Benteke makes it three goals for Liverpool by picking up the ball in the penalty area and shooting low and diagonally into the bottom left-hand corner.
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80 min: Just on for Roberto Firmino, Jordan Ibe goes close to extending Liverpool’s lead with another shot that takes a deflection off John Terry before bouncing wide of the far post. That could have gone anywhere!
77 min: Moreno brings a good save out of Begovic after getting past Willian to advance on the Chelsea goal.
76 min: “Sacked in the morning! You’re getting sacked in the morning!” is the chant from the Liverpool fans behind the goal into which Philippe Coutinho has just scored. His goal was quite similar to his first - he picked up the ball in a central position, shaped to shoot but didn’t again, then managed to evade the attentions of John Terry and Gary Cahill before placing the ball expertly past Begovic, with a little help from Chelsea’s forlorn captain.
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74 min: Coutinho did well to pounce on a downward header from Christian Benteke, who’d got on the end of a long ball into the penalty area. From the edge of the box, he shimmied this way and that before unleashing a right-footed effort that took a deflection off John Terry en route to the net.
GOAL! Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool (Coutinho 74)
The Brazilian scores his second of the afternoon to give Liverpool the lead.
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72 min: There was an element of Basil Fawlty in thrashing-his-car-with-a-tree-branch about Jose Mourinho as he stormed around the dug-out during that palaver over Lucas’s non-sending off. Oh, hold on ...
71 min: Oscar robs Lucas of possession in the centre-circle, takes a few steps and tries his luck from about 50 yards, forcing a wonderful save from Simon Mignolet, who he’d spotted off his line. The Belgian goalkeeper claws the ball out for a corner, from which nothing comes. Chelsea substitution: Cesc Fabregas on, John Obi Mikel off.
70 min: Chelsea attack on a counter-attack led by Willian, who is foiled by Martin Skrtel.
69 min: In other yellow card news, Emre Can and John Obi Mikel have also been booked in recent minutes.
67 min: Lucas is very lucky to escape a second yellow card for a foul on Ramires that leads to John Terry and several other players surrounding the referee and pleading with him to issue a red card. When none is forthcoming, Jose Mourinho applauds sarcastically from the dugout, where he too had been calling for a second yellow for the Brazilian.
65 min: I’ve just seen a replay of Deigo Costa’s foul on Skrtel and the Chelsea striker is very lucky he didn’t get sent off. He really lashed out at Skrtel with his foot as the pair went to ground and if Mark Clattenburg had seen him, a red card would have been inevitable.
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64 min: Kenedy’s already made quite an impact since coming on, shooting narrowly wide from distance and looking lively. For Liverpool, Adam, Lallana shoots wide.
63 min: Liverpool substitution: James Milner off, Christian Benteke on.
61 min: Martin Skrtel and Diego Costa collide as they contest the ball and go to ground. The Chelsea striker leaves his foot in on his marker, kind of rolling on top of him as he attempts to get back to his feet. Naughty boy.
59 min: Jose Morais is the Chelsea coach who got in that heated row with Jurgen Klopp. They were really going at it, but Jose Mourinho didn’t get himself involved.
58 min: Chelsea substitution: Eden Hazard off after another quite hour, Kenedy on. Moments previously, Lucas was booked for a foul on John Obi Mikel.
56 min: On the touchline, Jurgen Klopp finds himself in a raging argument wit6h a member of Chelsea’s back-room staff who’d told him to calm down as he raged at someone or other from his technical area.
53 min: Liverpool win a throw-in deep in Chelsea territory after Adam Lallana and Nathaniel Clyne combined down the touchline. Chelsea are looking very nervy and agitated at the moment, with Willian the latest to get in a defensive dither after a mix-up with his goalkeeper. The communication between the Chelsea goalkeeper and his defenders seems to be very poor.
51 min: Liverpool win a soft corner after Gary Cahill and Asmir Begovic get their wires crossed, then almost score from it. The ball wafts through the penalty area, where Gary Cahill takes a leaden footed touch about six yards from his own goal and has to react very quickly indeed to hack the ball clear before Martin Skrtel can pounce to capitalise.
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50 min: Liverpool win a free-kick about 40 yards from the Chelsea goal, left of centre. Alberto Moreno tries to pick out Mamadou Sakho with a curling delivery, but the ball is cleared before it reaches him.
48 min: Maybe it’s the time of day, the prevailing mood around Chelsea or a combination of both, but the atmosphere seems curiously flat at Stamford Bridge as a section of support try to get a sing-song going. Back on the pitch, Eden Hazard has moved wide for Chelsea, while Oscar appears to be playing in more central role in this half.
46 min: Martin Skrtel is forced to step in and clear the ball towards the corner flag as Oscar nutmegs Mamdou Sakho and nips into the Liverpool penalty area. Chelsea have started the second half brightly, much like they did the first.
Chelsea get the second half under way
There are no changes on either team after the interval as the second half gets started.
What now for Liverpool? We can only speculate on the fitness of Christian Benteke, but you can’t help but feel that Liverpool would have scored several goals in that first half if they’d had a dedicated centre-forward in the penalty area to finish off some of their attacks. James Milner’s been getting plenty of crosses into the box, but the burly men in Chelsea’s back four haven’t had too much difficulty dealing with them. The presence of Benteke would surely give them plenty to think about.
Half-time punditry: In the BT Studio, Alberto Moreno is getting slaughtered for his defensive shortcomings in the build-up to Chelsea’s opener, while Ramires gets in the neck for diving in on Philippe Coutinho but failing to get the ball in the build-up to the equaliser. Former referee Howard Webb adds that he was “extremely surprised” Mark Clattenburg hadn’t blown the whistle for half-time before Liverpool scored. He adds that referees are entitled to add on more than the recommended minimum signalled by the fourth official, but rarely do.
Jose watch: With the fourth official having signalled two minutes of added time at the end of the first half, Jose Mourinho had made his way to the tunnel and was watching the closing moments of the half from that particular vantage point. To say he was unimpressed with the defensive shortcomings that led to Liverpool’s equaliser would be quite an understatement. He stormed off down the tunnel in a right old funk. Interestingly, the goal was scored after more than the recommended two minutes of added time had been played.
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Half-time at Stamford Bridge: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool
That was a wonderful individual goal from Philippe Coutinho, who picked up the ball on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area, shaped to shoot but didn’t, cut to his left and curled a wonderful left-footed effort just inside the left upright. The marking was appalling, mind. John Terry gave the Brazilian acres of room in which to work his magic. It’s all square at Stamford Bridge, with the goals coming at the very beginning and very end of the half.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool (Coutinho 45)
From 20 metres out, Philippe Coutinhjo curls a wonderful left-footed shot around the desperate dive of Asmir Begovic and in by the left upright.
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45 min: James Milner skates past Willian and gets a wonderful cross into the Chelsea penalty area, but it’s cleared. Milner’s got some splendid deliveries into the mixer, where the conspicuous absence of Christian Benteke has been noted on more than oner occasion by BT Sport’s co-comms men Michael Owen and Trevor Francis.
43 min:Chelsea win a throw-in just in front of Jurgen Klopp’s technical area, where the Liverpool manager is looking a mite fed up with life. In the opposing dug-out, his opposite number is slumped in his seat looking moody. We’ll have two minutes of added time.
40 min: Diego Costa comes out second best from a collision with Martin Skrtel and is left sitting in a state of wounded indignation pitchside, gingerly feeling his lip and checking for blood. He’d attempted to wriggle in behind Skrtel along the touchline, but the Slovak defender was not for being turned.
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38 min: Moments before that Leiva chance, Liverpool appealed for a penalty when the ball hit John Terry’s arm. It was undeniably a hand-ball, but the Chelsea skipper was standing outside the penalty area when he committed the foul.
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35 min: Chelsea lose possession in the centre-circle and Liverpool break forward towards the Chelsea penalty area. Lucas - of all people - out-jumps Kurt Zouma at the far post to get on the end of a wonderful diagonal cross from James Milner out on the right and steer a header goalwards. Begovic saves fairly easily.
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34 min: Oscar goes down under a challenge from James Milner to win a free-kick halfway inside his own half.
33 min: Costa and Hazard attempt to link up on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area after industrious work down the right by Willian. Liverpool clear after Costa just fails to pick out Hazard with a neat little through-ball.
32 min: Liverpool attack down the left touchline, but Gary Cahill does well to block an attempted cross into the Chelsea penalty area by Alberto Moreno.
30 min: From the free-kick conceded by Can, Chelsea hoick the ball towards the near post, where Adam Lallana clears for Liverpool.
28 min: For the third or fourth time, Willian finds himself rolling around on the ground in distress after being subjected to a brutish tackle from behind by Emre Can down by the corner flag. That was idiotic and completely unnecessary from the Liverpool midfielder, who is very lucky to escape a booking.
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25 min: Liverpool continue to dominate - they’ve had a whopping 80% of the possession in the past five minutes. Adam Lallana goes close to stabbing home an equaliser from about eight yards out after a cross from the right was deflected into his path. Begovic saves.
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23 min: Philippe Coutinho gets booked for clattering his compatriot Willian.
22 min: Liverpool are completely dominating possession at the moment, but not doing a huge amount with it. Their players are first to every ball but looking a little toothless.
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21 min: Liverpool go a rampaging into Chelsea territory again and win a corner as the ball goes out of play off John Terry. Alberto Moreno sends in an inswinger, but once again Asmir Begovic is first to the ball.
19 min: Willianh goes down in the centre-circle clutching his shin after being upended by Emre Can. He’ll live.
19 min: More good work from Clyne and Coutinho results in the ball breaking kindly for Adam Lallana, who shoots on the turn from just inside the Chelsea penalty area. Begovic gets down to save comfortably.
17 min: After an extremely shaky start, Liverpool are finally starting to find their rhythm, looking more comfortable on the ball as they start to enjoy sustained periods of possession. They win a corner and the ball is arrowed into the penalty area, where Asmir Begovic darts of his line to claim comfortably.
14 min: From just outside the Chelsea penalty area, Philippe Coutinho plays a wonderful pass out to Alberto Moreno on the left flank with the outside of his right boot and Liverpool ping the ball around before Nathaniel Clyne drags a low drive wide of the left upright.
13 min: Alberto Moreno and Adam Lallana combine down the left in the Chelsea half, but Willian wins possession and Chelsea attack on the break. Eden Hazard scampers through the centre, but his pass out left to Oscar is a mite behind the Brazilian and takes all the momentum out of a promising sortie, allowing Liverpool to recover.
11 min: Lucas gets on the ball in the centre-circle and plays it out wide to Nathaniel Clyne. He gallops down the touchline and sends in a cross from the byline, but Chelssea clear.
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9 min: Liverpool appear to have lined up without a frontman, with Roberto Firmino operating in a false nine role. Or false nein, as their manager might say. They’re not getting much change out of Chelsea ta the moment, relying on scraps and enjoying very little possession.
8 min: Chelsea continue to dominate, as Lucas is given a ticking-off from Mark Clattenburg for a shove on Diego Costa, his second foul in quick succession. The yellow card stays in the referee’s pocket for the time being.
6 min: Chelsea win a free-kick about 35 yards from the Liverpool goal and Willian sends the ball towards Kurt Zouma, who’d darted towards the near post but is flagged for offside.
4 min: That was a thumping header from Ramirez, who made a late, unmarked run into the Liverpool penalty area and ducked to send the ball fizzing past SImon Mignolet into the bottom corner. The cross from the left by Azpilicueta appeared to take a defelction that teed the ball up nicely for the goal-scorer, but the lack of marking was criminal. I’m pointing my big finger of blame at Alberto Moreno.
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GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool (Ramires 4)
What a start for Chelsea, as Ramires heads home from eight yards after getting on the end of a Cesar Azpilicueta cross.
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3 min: Liverpool’s early pressing yields early dividencds as they nick the ball in midfield and break forward. Roberto Firmino ignores Nathaniel Clyne out wide and tries a shot himself.
2 min: In a notable turn of events, Chelsea appear to have lined up with two banks of four at the back and in midfield, with Oscar playing as the second striker in behind Diego Costa.
1 min: Liverpool get the ball rolling in the autumnal sunshine, their players lining out in their customary red shirts, shorts and socks. Chelsea’s wear their usual blue home kit.
Not long now ...
The teams line up in the tunnel, with John Terry and James Milner leading out the troops. Up goes the shout of “C’mon boys!” and out they walk to the strains of The Liquidator, by the Harry J Allstars. The pre-match formalities - handshakes, last-minute hugs and words of encouragement are exchanged and it’s time to get this show on the road.
Pre-match punditry ...
Harry Redknapp, Rio Ferdinand and Steve McManaman are in the BT studio and they’re currently looking forward to the battle between Martin Skrtel and Diego Costa, who they point out have a lot of “previous” with each other. “If the pair of them don’t get booked it’ll be a miracle,” says Harry. They’re also speculating as to where Eden Hazard will play and reckon Liverpool will keep the midfield tight and prioritise not losing over winning. It’s going to be an intriguing game and it kicks off in 10 minutes.
Jurgen Klopp speaks ...
The new Liverpool manager is a lot more chipper than his opposite number as he sits down for his one-on-one with T Sport. Asked about his personality, he says: “Nobody of us is only one person, one mentality, one thinking, one whatever. I like people, I like human beings with their faults and their strengths. I like to talk to people and that’s what I do all day. I want to be surrounded by football maniacs and if you are not as big a football maniac as me then maybe I can help you. I’m not better than Brendan Rodgers, but I am different.”
When it’s put to him that he seems to prefer go about his work with a smile on his face, he says: “Of course. Who doesn’t? I love what I do but during games photographers only take pictures of me with my crazy face, it’s not a nice face! “ He finishes up by likening Chelsea’s current problems to his experiences at Dortmund last seasons and says that they are dangerous because they’re like a wounded animal.
Today's match referee
Newcastle-based match official Mark Clattenburg will be attempting to keep order this afternoon, through judicious use of his whistle, pen, red and yellow cards.
Chelsea v Liverpool line-ups
Chelsea: Begovic, Zouma, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Ramires, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Diego Costa.
Subs: Amelia, Baba, Matic, Fabregas, Kenedy, Falcao, Remy.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Clyne, Skrtel, Sakho, Moreno, Lucas, Can, Milner, Lallana, Coutinho, Firmino.
Subs: Bogdan, Lovren, Benteke, Allen, Ibe, Teixeira, Randall.
Jose Mourinho speaks ...
Asked by Des Kelly on BT Sport if he is unhappy, he says. “No, I’m fine.” Asked if he’[s feeling under pressure, the Chelsea manager says: “No pressure.” Asked for his views on the season so far, he says: “I don’t want to speak about that. The results are not good, we are playing much better than the results are saying and if we keep playiung like that the resuklts will arrive. I’m not enjoying the results, but I’m enjoying my work. A champion is a champion and the bad results of the moment cannot change that. Until somebody mathematically wins the title, then we are still the champions.” He finishes up by adding that he has earned the right to try to turn things around at Chelsea and the fans should remain patient.
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Today’s confirmed #LFC starting line-up and subs in full on our matchday graphic pic.twitter.com/fhkNDvqhGS
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 31, 2015
This is how Chelsea will line up to take on Liverpool... #CFC pic.twitter.com/7IOrmZpLUx
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) October 31, 2015
Liverpool team news
Jurgen Klopp makes one change from the side that drew with Southampton last weekend. Divock Origi has been omitted from the squad and isn’t even on the bench, while Roberto Firmino starts up top. Christian Benteke is Liverpool’s lone striking option on the bench.
Early team news from the Chelsea camp
Despite being back from suspension, Nemanja Matic has not been selected, while Cesc Fabregas is also on the bench. John Obi Mikel and Oscar start in midfield for Chelsea.
Mourinho v Klopp: The pre-match press conferences
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