Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea: Arne Slot’s Reds move back to the top of the Premier League after goals from Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah – with Nicolas Jackson’s strike consolation for Blues

It will take far more than one raucous occasion for Arne Slot‘s image to be added to the legendary Kop banner bearing the faces of the managers, from Bill Shankly to Jurgen Klopp, who have shaped Liverpool and given the club its glorious history. 

But there was a feeling around this place that the successor to Anfield’s last great leader really can take the team on to new greatness.

Slot has brought a more conservative form of football these past few months. More easy listening than heavy metal, as Liverpool have looked to overcome opponents with passes and play out from the back. Echoes of autumn of 1974, when Bob Paisley, adapted the Bill Shankly creed.

But in his team’s first major test, there was pace, relentless pressing, long passes mixed in with the short as Liverpool eased to an emphatic win which revealed the gulf which still exists between the two clubs. And the shining light was the 23-year-old who has made no secret of the impact Slot has had on his football.

Curtis Jones was asked simultaneously to deal with Cole Palmer, notionally Chelsea‘s most substantial threat, in the pockets of space on the inside of their right flank and help drive Liverpool forward with his passing game. He more than accomplished the task. 

Curtis Jones tucked home a neat finish at the near post to wrap up all three points for the Reds

Mohamed Salah had opened the scoring from the penalty spot after a foul on Jones

The penalty he won on the half hour, converted by Mohamed Salah to put Liverpool ahead, was the headline moment of the first half, though Jones’ intervention two minutes earlier – a vital block when Palmer was in space to shoot – was no less significant.

Jones tracked Palmer as if his life depended upon it and the sight of him, at the end of the first half, remonstrating with Virgil van Dijk for not closing the midfielder down when he entered the defender’s sphere of influence, spoke to how he viewed the challenge.

And then, after Chelsea’s counter-attacking pace had earned them an equaliser, Jones struck again to secure the points. Fastest to attack a ball whipped in by Salah. Ice in his veins as he controlled with his left foot and guided home past Robert Sanchez, who seemed curiously slow to respond.

Chelsea crackled with a little intent in the game’s first half hour. Jadon Sancho tested Trent Alexander-Arnold and looked like he might have the acceleration to do him danger. 

But Ibrahim Konate stepped across to help out and gradually that threat receded. Ultimately, Sancho could not make an impact. 

Noni Madueke had the better of Andy Robertson several times in the opposite flank and seemed to offer a potential supply line for Palmer but Van Dijk doubled on that side of the Liverpool’s defence. 

Palmer, so dangerous in this season’s early weeks, was a peripheral figure.

Slot’s players brought the real intensity and left Chelsea looking defensively vulnerable and fragile. Tosin Adarabioyo was booked for pulling down Diogo Jota just six minutes in, as the Portuguese threatened to spin past him and on to goal. 

And though Salah was lucky to avoid a booking for theatrics as he sought to win a penalty just before the half hour, Levi Colwill’s clumsy challenge on Jones – his left leg making clear contact – immediately gave a braying Anfield the spot-kick, and subsequent opener, they had been screaming for. 

Nicolas Jackson equalised for the Blues after sliding into the corner shortly after half-time

Jackson was released beyond Virgil van Dijk and kept his cool to beat Caoimhin Kelleher

Salah sent Robert Sanchez the wrong way with an emphatic spot-kick on the 30-minute mark

A clumsy challenge from Levi Colwill on Jones saw referee John Brooks point to the spot

Jota left the field with an injury sustained in the Adarabioyo challenge but Darwin Nunez, replacing him, brought hold up play which added another dimension for Liverpool. 

It was he who found Cody Gakpo to set up a Dominik Szoboszlai chance, which lacked power.

Chelsea’s pace did bring an occasional threat. Nicolas Jackson hit the outside of the post after accelerating through and Konate’s foot played the striker in to score as he raced into the path of Moises Caidedo’s path through the central channel after the break. The goal was called offside but awarded after a VAR intervention.

After the Jones had put Liverpool ahead again, Enzo Maresca ripped up his defence. 

Adarabioyo, Reece James and Romeo Lavia were replaced by Benoit Badiashile, Renato Veiga and Enzo Fernandez. Pedro Neto replaced Sancho and made more of an impact. But Chelsea could find no way back.

Jones looked to have won another penalty after tumbling under contact from Sanchez

But the referee reversed his decision after being advised to check his pitchside monitor

Tosin Adarabioyo (left) escaped a red card just five minutes in after bringing down Diogo Jota

Tensions flared as the clock ticked closer to the 90 with Darwin Nunez in the thick of the action

Cole Palmer endured a quiet evening on Merseyside as the Blues fell to a narrow defeat

Liverpool had the chance for a third when Salah found Cody Gakpo but the Dutchman wastefully fired over. Jackson remonstrated with Palmer for taking aim, rather than playing him, as the game reached its conclusion but desperate times demanded desperate measures.

The picture seemed so much clearer for Jones, departing to an ovation ten minutes from time, who has made no secret of the impact he feels Slot has had on his football. 

‘It’s probably the happiest I’ve been in terms of a style of play that suits me,’ he said of his new manager a few weeks back. ‘It’s a clear plan in training and he’s fully involved, coaching us a lot. He’s big on the finer details.’ 

Those finer details had Liverpool top of the Premier League on Sunday night, while Chelsea, for all their outlay, still grapple for a plan and some answers.