Conor Bradley delivered a remarkable performance, scoring his first Liverpool goal and providing two assists as the Reds defeated Chelsea to maintain their Premier League lead.
Jurgen Klopp’s team entered this round of fixtures five points ahead of Arsenal and Manchester City, who had won their games against Nottingham Forest and Burnley, respectively, therefore the Reds needed to do the same against the Blues.
After defeating Bournemouth 4-0 in their previous league game, they delivered another confident and authoritative performance to sweep Chelsea aside.
Darwin Nunez hit the woodwork twice in the first half, and four times in all, but Diogo Jota showed incredible perseverance to push his way through defenders to slide in from Bradley’s assist.
The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international, who has emerged as a very exciting talent at Liverpool this season, then scored the goal that his previous good performances deserved, racing into the box from the right and driving into the far corner.
Liverpool should have led 3-0 at halftime, but Nunez missed a penalty kick after Jota was hauled down.
Mykhailo Mudryk missed a glorious chance to halve the deficit after the break when he lashed high over the bar with just Alisson to beat.
Dominik Szoboszlai punished Chelsea for that miss as he got Liverpool’s third, heading home Bradley’s cross, and although Christopher Nkunku drove in a consolation for the visitors, Luis Diaz added a fourth late on with a close-range strike.
It was the perfect result for the Reds both in retaining their advantage at the top of the Premier League as well as boosting confidence before they face Chelsea again in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on 25 February.
