Liverpool outclass Chelsea to show differences in standards\u060c<\/p>\n
LIVERPOOL, England – Mauricio Pochettino could have been forgiven for flashing a rueful smile when Darwin N\u00fa\u00f1ez hit the woodwork for the fourth time in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Chelsea at Anfield. After all, this kind of frustrating inadequacy is usually a trait of Chelsea's underperforming players.<\/p>\n
Pochettino still had plenty of excuses to shake his head at his team, whether it was the defensive errors of Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell or Benoit Badiashile, the wayward finishing of Mykhailo Mudryk or Christopher Nkunku's inability to remain in the game. Chelsea even had good reason to question the competence of referee Paul Tierney and his VAR officials following the failure to award penalties after fouls by Virgil van Dijk on Conor Gallagher and Nkunku .<\/p>\n
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga and more (US)<\/strong><\/p>\n But even though N\u00fa\u00f1ez became the first player since records began to hit the post or crossbar four times in a Premier League match \u2013 the Uruguayan striker hit the post with a first-half penalty \u2013 Chelsea were still blown away by a frenetic Liverpool side. who maintained a five-point lead over champions Manchester City at the top of the table.<\/p>\n It's often the difference between teams at the top and those miles off the pace. The best teams overcome setbacks and find a way to win, as Liverpool have persistently done, but teams like Chelsea, who are 20 points behind Liverpool in 10th, collapse as soon as things start<\/a> to go wrong. be unfavorable. These two sides are set to meet again on February 25 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, but Chelsea have provided little evidence that they will deny Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp the first trophy of a possible quadruple on next month before he leaves his post at the end of the season.<\/p>\n