56
Luis Suárez
54
Lucas Leiva
54
PENALTY! Suarez raises his arm above his head and makes
contact with Mata's corner, leaving Kevin Friend no choice but to point
to the penalty spot.
53
César Azpilicueta
52
Luis Suárez
52
Goal
Daniel SturridgeGOAL! Suarez picks out Sturridge in front of goal with a wonderful cross and the ex Chelsea player taps the ball past Cech for his fifth goal since his move to Anfield. 1-1!
49
Chelsea reply with a dangerous attack of their own:
Ramires finds himself with the ball on the edge of the box and pokes it
through the legs of the defence and into the path of Torres. The
Spaniard settles himself and plays it into the centre of the penalty
area but it's sent out for a corner by Carragher.
47
And now Sturridge hits the post! He turns and fires from
long-range, beating Cech but not beating the post. Johnson then picks up
the ball and drills it across goal but no one is there to get the all
important final touch for the equaliser.
46
Coutinho 
Daniel Sturridge
46
Sturridge immediately gets involved in the action as he
darts from the right flank into the centre of the field before putting
the ball through to Gerrard in front of goal, but Cech sticks out a foot
to push his shot out for a corner.
46
And we're off again!
Sturridge indeed does come on to face his former side, and it's Coutinho who he replaces.
Sturridge has been warming up during the break and looks like he might be coming on for the second half.
Our man Wayne Veysey is at Anfield and here are his
thoughts on the first 45 minutes of action: "The home support are a
little frustrated at the end of an opening period in which Chelsea have
not had to play too well for their 1-0 lead. Liverpool controlled
possession either side of Oscar's headed goal but it took them until the
42nd minute to force a meaningful save from Petr Cech through Luis
Suarez. The Uruguayan again went close on the cusp of the break and is
absolutely integral to Liverpool's hopes of a second-half comeback."
Chelsea lead at the half time break thanks to Oscar's
headed goal after 26 minutes. Liverpool started the stronger of the two
sides but the visitors' confidence grew as the half wore on. It's been a
successful first 45 minutes for Benitez on his return to Anfield, but
there's still plenty of time left for the hosts, who have shown a few
flashes of great play during the opening period...
HT: Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea
45
One minute of added time will be played.
45
Another shot on goal from Suarez after a great ball
through the heart of the Chelsea defence by Henderson but his shot rolls
into Cech's arms.
43
Plenty of long-range efforts coming from Liverpool at the
moment but the visitors hold firm, block the shots and get rid of the
danger.
41
Great move from Liverpool down the right results in Suarez
firing a close-range shot at Cech, but the Chelsea goalkeeper is able
to parry the ball away from danger.
40
Oscar nips in and wins the ball from Gerrard before
embarking on a run down the left flank. He cuts in and sets up Ramires
but runs into trouble and Liverpool clear up the pitch.
38
Fernando Torres
38
Torres and Carragher both rise for the ball and the former
Red catches the veteran with his arm, sending him tumbling to the
floor. The Spaniard receives a yellow card from referee Kevin Friend for
his actions.
35
The roles seem to have reversed as Chelsea are now fully
on the front foot and Liverpool are lacking ideas when they push
forward.
32
Suarez almost makes contact with a deflected Coutinho
cross from inside the left of the box but the Uruguayan mistimes his
headed effort and Cech is able to save comfortably at his near post.
29
Jordan Henderson
29
Cynical challenge from behind by Henderson on Hazard
results in him receiving the first yellow card of the game. Luiz fires
in a bouncing shot from the resulting free kick which Reina has trouble
with and almost fumbles into his own net, but the ball bounces just
before the goal line and he's able to smother it before it rolls into
the net.
26
Juan Mata
26
Goal
OscarGOAL! A promising Liverpool attack turns into a swift Chelsea counterattack and results in Hazard winning Chelsea's first corner of the game. Mata swings it in and Oscar, one of the smallest players on the pitch, beats his marker and deftly heads in at the near post for the opener. 1-0 to the Blues!
24
Oscar attempts a long-range effort but it's poor and bounces well wide of the Liverpool goal.
22
Mikel and Suarez clash again. This time, the Nigerian
brings down the pacy Uruguayan near the halfway line and gives away
another Liverpool free kick, allowing the hosts to break away on another
attack.
19
Hazard tees up Ramires on the edge of the Liverpool box,
but the Brazilian's rocket effort is straight at Reina and the Spaniard
is able to punch the ball away to safety.
17
Suarez and Henderson combine well to force a corner for
the hosts, and it eventually ends up with Downing on the edge of the
box. He tries to curl a long-range effort into the top left corner of
the net but his execution is disappointing and Cech watches it fly wide.
15
Good passing play from a Chelsea side that are now more
noticeably settled than they were five minutes ago. Hazard, Oscar and
Mata are all involved in impressive build-up work in the centre of the
field before the ball ends up with Ramires on the right wing, but he
puts it out of play for a goal kick as he attempts to beat Enrique.
13
After a frantic start, things have slowed down slightly
now as Chelsea find themselves getting more and more comfortable on the
ball.
10
Slow start for Chelsea as the hosts have dominated the
majority of possession in the opening ten minutes. Every time the
visitors try to push forward, Liverpool hold firm, steal the ball and
embark on another attacking movement of their own.
6
Free kick for Liverpool in a dangerous position on the
left of the box after Mikel brings down Suarez. Gerrard sends the ball
into the box but Mikel clears it out of the box to Henderson but he
blasts his attempted shot way over the crossbar.
5
Beautiful passing play from Liverpool leads to Suarez on
the edge of the box who sets up ex-Blue Johnson but his poked shot goes
wide of the post.
3
Problem for Agger as he lands awkwardly when fighting for
the ball with former team-mate Torres. He seems to be holding the side
of his hip in some discomfort.
2
Good early pressure from Liverpool. Johnson crosses in
from the right but it's slightly too long for Coutinho to get on the end
of.
1
And we're off!
A minute's silence takes place before the game gets
underway to honour the memory of Hillsborough justice campaigner Anne
Williams, whose son died in the disaster, as well as for the victims of
the Boston bombings.
The two sides are making their way onto the pitch to a
cacophonous welcome from the Anfield faithful. The reception is a
positive one as well for their former boss Rafael Benitez.
Brendan Rodgers makes just one change to the Liverpool
side that drew 0-0 with Reading last weekend, with Downing replacing
Sturridge, who drops to the bench, whilst former Reds manager Rafael
Benitez makes three changes to the Chelsea side that beat west London
rivals Fulham midweek, with Lampard, Terry and Moses to be replaced by
Mikel, Azpilicueta and Oscar.
CHELSEA XI: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Luiz, Bertrand,
Ramires, Mikel, Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Torres. SUBS: Turnbull, Ferreira,
Terry, Lampard, Benayoun, Moses, Ba
LIVERPOOL XI: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Carragher, Enrique;
Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson; Downing, Coutinho, Suarez. SUBS: Jones,
Skrtel, Coates, Shelvey, Coady, Assaidi, Sturridge
First, let's see how the two sides line up...
Good afternoon and welcome to Goal.com's LIVE commentary
of Liverpool vs. Chelsea. My name is Ben Cullimore and I'll be keeping
you up-to-date with all of the action from Anfield. With both sides
desperate for the three points on offer as the season comes to an end,
today's clash is certainly going to be an exciting one!
GOAL! Reina makes Hazard wait to take the spot kick but his tactics do nothing to put off the Belgian, who calmly fires low into the bottom left corner of the goal. 2-1 to Chelsea!