It is a long time since Liverpool have been to a ground of Stamford Bridge’s magnitude and taken all three points, while relying on their defence rather than their attacking prowess.
The days of Martin Skrtel and Dejan Lovren seem to be long in the past – gone is the era of Liverpool leading 2-1 away from home and then conceding cheaply, through basic and avoidable mistakes.
Both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane had an off day at Stamford Bridge – it happens – but what doesn’t usually occur is the grit and quality of Liverpool’s defence almost single-handedly winning the game.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick was a moment of sheer excellence. Liverpool now have two full-backs who contribute equally to both the attacking and defensive third.
After N’Golo Kante’s superb strike pulled a goal back for Chelsea, Liverpool faced 20 minutes of relentless, intensive pressure. It was backs-against-the-wall defending and they coped with it well.
The front-three continually failed to hold the ball up and get Liverpool up the pitch, meaning it was wave after wave of Chelsea attacks.
Those final minutes highlighted how good this Liverpool defence really is, though.
Since the turn of the decade, the Reds have been poor defensively for the most part, with an inability to see out games proving to be their Achilles heel.
To seal the win at Chelsea in that fashion was, therefore, actually almost more of a statement than winning 3-0, in terms of it being a ‘sign of champions’.
Numerous times in the past, Liverpool have gone away from home and deserved to take all three points, but have instead come away with one or none, because of shoddy defensive work.
It was great to see a Liverpool side not be at its very best at a big ground, but still have the quality to take all three points.
Jamie Carragher stated that City’s incredible last two seasons has raised the bar for games such as Chelsea away, and that a draw would have been seen as a disappointment.
He is spot on.
Liverpool showed the quality they now possess at the back, and that is what separated the Reds and a good Chelsea side.
Without it, they wouldn’t be a title contender.
