Match verdict from Paul Gorst after Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday to regain top spot in the Premier League
If Anfield has been biding its time before really showing Arne Slot what it is capable of, then this was the day it all changed. And in a season that is becoming littered with them, Liverpool regained their lead at the top of the Premier League with the hardest-fought victory of the campaign so far against Chelsea.
Reds fans proudly boast about the 'Scouser in the team' when it comes to Trent Alexander-Arnold but they will have to extend that now after England Under-21 international Jones grasped his opportunity with a match-winning performance that saw him trample over the most expensively-assembled midfield in football history in £115m Moises Caicedo and substitute £106m Enzo Fernandez.
The goal aside, Jones's most impactful contribution came in the second half when he won it back to thwart a dangerous Chelsea attack before rolling Palmer and winning a free-kick from Caicedo inside the centre circle to relieve the pressure and earn the adulation of the crowd. It was enough, in fact, to bring about a rarely heard terrace ditty set to Bony M's Daddy Cool in honour of the city-centre-born star.
Chelsea appear to be something of a different beast under Enzo Maresca but this visit to Anfield was always going to be the best gauge of their progress under the former Leicester boss, so he will feel that his team are at least heading in the right direction as they battled until the dying embers of 97 minutes before being made to concede defeat.
At times, Chelsea's cause was aided by some curious officiating from referee Brooks, who was the recipient of Slot's most impassioned touchline outburst so far as head coach when he bizarrely blew for a foul on Renato Veiga by the otherwise excellent Nunez, who looked to have fairly shoulder charged the defender to the deck.
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