Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea: Conor Bradley stars as frustrated Blues thrashed at Anfield

Chelsea were thrashed and outclassed by Liverpool on Wednesday night during a 4-1 win for the Premier League leaders.

Jurgen Klopp’s side extended their advantage at the top of the table to five points over Arsenal, who have a game in hand.

Liverpool took a two-goal lead heading into the interval thanks to goals from Diogo Jota and Conor Bradley, who drove his effort into the far corner past Djordje Petrovic, who made several crucial stops to ensure the lead wasn’t extended.

Chelsea were spared a third on the stroke of half-time when Darwin Nunez saw his penalty cannon back off the post after Jota was fouled inside the box in stoppage time.

Chelsea were left frustrated in the first half after Conor Gallagher was denied a penalty prior to Liverpool’s opener, but referee Paul Tierney and VAR weren’t of the ruling Virgil van Dijk had fouled the 23-year-old.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side were left frustrated as Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz added a third and fourth for the hosts. Substitute Christopher Nkunku, who returned from a hip injury, netted a consolation goal for the visitors prior to Diaz restoring their three-goal lead.

Nkunku was also brought down in the box, again by Van Dijk, however Tierney once again refused to point to the spot to Chelsea’s dismay.

“Of course, when you have the emotion and seeing in the iPad the action, maybe should be a penalty,” reflected Pochettino post-match.

“That’s the decision of the referee. For us, bad luck. But that doesn’t change the feeling that Liverpool were better.”

Wednesday night’s defeat was a reality check for Chelsea after an improved run of form. Their away form has swapped with their home form, with the struggles now largely coming on the road.

Chelsea will need to dust themselves down quickly ahead of the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley later this month.

Pochettino wants Chelsea to remind themselves that it was just ‘one game’ lost at Anfield and focus should now switch to Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Wolves and beyond despite the dismal 90 minutes on Merseyside.

“We need to move on. That was only one game. It was tough to play. We knew why Liverpool is top of the table. It was maybe a little bit too much for us.”

He added: “It’s so clear, they were much better than us. We lost every single duel. Well deserved (win) for them. Nothing to complain about the decisions, they were better than us.”