Some of the Liverpool players have been celebrating on social media after the Merseysiders secured an impressive 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday night. It might even be fair to say that Liverpool have what it take to challenge for the Premier League title this season.
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However, they slipped their first defeat of the season against Liverpool on Friday following a 2-2 draw at Swansea.
Conte refused to be too critical of his players however, but he admits he sees plenty of room for improvement. I don’t want to repeat last season. When you finish in 10 place it’s something odd, it’s not natural or simple.
“When you give away two goals in this way, I think it’s very hard because against Liverpool you play with a great team, these are tough games and I think that you must pay attention in every moment, in every single minute of the game, every second, because the details make the difference”.
“I’m always happy to score but I’m more happy with the performance of the team”.
“We are a team who wants to play, who wants to win – we are not a team who will defend deep and await our chances”. For this reason we must pay attention in every single moment of the game, in every minute.
“We have so many players here on the bench that can make a difference”.
Liverpool have now taken 10 points from their opening five games of the Premier League season, with four of those fixtures having been played away and their only home match being last weekend’s 4-1 demolition of champions Leicester City.
Dejan Lovren opened the scoring with his maiden league goal for Liverpool before Jordan Henderson scored his first since January with a superb long-range strike and, although Diego Costa scored his fifth of the season, Luiz’s second debut ended in defeat.
Chelsea fought back after the break when Diego Costa side-footed home from close range after 61 minutes but there was little further goalmouth action as Liverpool comfortably held on.
When it came, it was a triple substitution as Victor Moses, Pedro and Cesc Fabregas came on for Willian, Oscar and Matic, although there was widespread surprise that £33m striker Michy Batshuayi was not given an opportunity.
Some questioned both his late substitutions and the snub to Batshuayi after the Belgium impressed during the first games of the campaign.
“We need to learn how we can manage the game with power and 100 per cent concentration”, he told Sky Sports.
“I think David Luiz is a very big talent but I would have never of put those two together, there’s something freakish about it, it feels a little bit odd”.
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“In that moment I had to decide whether or not to put two wingers in”.
