Liverpool crash to third Premier League defeat against Chelsea

Second half goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda sent Liverpool crashing to their third Premier League defeat of the season at Stamford Bridge.

The defeat leaves Liverpool six points behind Chelsea and Rafa Benitez's side have now lost three times in their first eight league games after losing just twice through the whole of last season.

Chelsea were without first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech, who served his suspension following his red card against Wigan, but they were buoyed by the return of Didier Drogba.

Liverpool's midfield was strengthened by the return of Javier Mascherano after injury - and he played a crucial role in protecting his defence in a scrappy and evenly contested opening period.

After a tight first half, former Liverpool striker Anelka opened the scoring when he converted Drogba's cross in the 60th minute.

Drogba was the provider again in stoppage time as he over-powered Jamie Carragher and crossed for Malouda to slide home.

Substitute Benayoun wasted Liverpool's best chance when he somehow missed an easy shot with only stand-in goalkeeper Hilario to beat but that came after Malouda had already doubled Chelsea's advantage.

After the international break, Liverpool next head to the North-East in 2 weeks' time, aiming to extend their impressive winning run against Sunderland. The Reds have triumphed in their previous six meetings with the Black Cats and a repeat of last season's 1-0 victory at the Stadium of Light is much needed to help maintain the title challenge.

Steve Bruce's men have enjoyed a promising start to the new campaign and the Reds are well aware that they will need to shackle the goal threat of on-form strike duo Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones if they are to come away with the three points once again.

Torres on fire as Liverpool destroy Hull

Fernando Torres scored a stunning hat-trick as the Reds crushed Hull 6-1 at Anfield.

This was the fourth Liverpool hat-trick for Torres, who took his goal tally for the season to eight in seven matches including five in the last two league games.

After a shaky start to the season, Liverpool have now won their last six matches, scoring 18 goals in the process. They currently lie third in the Premier league table, and have the best goal difference.

Rafael Benitez made one change to the side that won at West Ham last weekend, with Riera replacing Mascherano in a more attack-minded selection.

The Spanish winger had an immediate impact as his low ball in from the left was shifted out of his feet by the quick-thinking Torres before he rolled into the far corner.

It was far from an ideal start for Hull, who had lost their previous three matches, but they quickly hit back when Skrtel could only flick the ball up in the air from a cross into the box, and Geovanni cooly directed it into the corner from 10 yards.

Torres restored the lead on the half hour mark, slipping on to a Benayoun through pass, rounding Sonko and Myhill before side-footing into the net.

Hull simply could not live with the Spanish marksman and he sealed his hat-trick two minutes after the break, again found by Benayoun and again coming inside Sonko before firing home.

Liverpool began to run riot, and Gerard scored Liverpool’s fourth with a cross-shot from the left that swirled over Myhill's head and flew in-off the crossbar. Babel then converted Kuyt’s cross at the near post for the fifth, and in injury time Riera's shot struck Babel and looped over Myhill to make it six.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Liverpool next head to Florence knowing that a victory would put them well on course for a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League. The Reds got off to a winning start in Group E with a 1-0 success over Debrecen and another three points against the Italian side would leave put them in a strong qualifying position. The Italians suffered a 1-0 defeat against Lyon in their first match and need a positive result to get their campaign back on track.

Liverpool moves into Carling Cup last 16

Liverpool progressed into the last 16 of the Carling Cup following David Ngog’s winner against Leeds United at Elland Road, despite a spirited performance from the home team.

Rafael Benitez made nine changes to the team that won at West Ham on Saturday, with only Jamie Carragher and Javier Mascherano retaining their places. However, Liverpool big guns Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres and Glen Johnson were on the bench in case not all went according to plan.

Simon Grayson's team thought they had taken the lead in the 11th minute when Jermaine Beckford and Luciano Becchio combined to turn in Lubomir Michalik's header, but the effort was ruled out for offside.

Leeds wasted several more chances to shock the Reds before French striker Ngog broke the deadlock in the 66th minute. Ngog controlled Mascherano's mis-hit shot, turned and drove home a fine finish to silence the 39,000 capacity crowd.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next game, Liverpool entertain struggling Hull City on Saturday hoping to extend their winning streak in the Barclays Premier League to four matches. The Reds have moved up to third place in the table following a difficult start to the campaign and will be determined to improve on last term's 2-2 draw against the Tigers in order to bolster their position.

Winning start for Liverpool in Champions League

Dirk Kuyt's strike on the stroke of half-time gave Liverpool a narrow 1-0 win over Hungarian champions Debrecen in their Champions League opening game at Anfield.

Wednesday night's game was Rafa Benitez's 300th match in charge of the Reds and he afforded himself the luxury of naming the same Liverpool team that beat Burnley 4-0 at Anfield on Saturday.

In the first half action, Riera had two fierce strikes saved in the 38th and 39th minute, with Kuyt seeing a follow-up cleared off the line.

But after Gerrard sidefooted inches wide of the upright, the breakthrough came on 45 minutes when Debrecen's goalkeeper Vukasin Poleksic parried a Torres shot and was helpless to prevent Kuyt from converting the rebound.

It was all Liverpool after the interval, with Gerrard whistling a 20-yard volley inches over the crossbar, Yossi Benayoun being denied by a fine save and Lucas Leiva and Torres heading good chances off target.

Despite failing to carve out a bigger victory, Liverpool fans will be happy that the main goal of making a winning start in Group E has been achieved comfortably.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next match, Liverpool are back on the road in the Barclays Premier League and will travel to Upton Park to take on West Ham United. The Reds will be looking to secure their second away victory of the season - and they have enjoyed several good results in East London in recent years. Last season, Ryan Babel added to a Steven Gerrard brace as Liverpool ran out comfortable 3-0 victors. However, in 2007-08, West Ham claimed a 1-0 win with an injury-time Mark Noble penalty.

Yossi hat-trick inspires Liverpool to fine victory over Burnley

Yossi Benayoun fired a hat-trick as Liverpool beat Premier League new boys Burnley 4-0 at Anfield.

Liverpool made two changes to the side that won at Bolton a fortnight ago.

Martin Skrtel returned to central defence in place of Greece international Sotirios Kyrgiakos, and with Javier Mascherano picking up a muscle injury while on international duty with Argentina, Yossi Benayoun came into midfield.

The absence of Mascherano meant that Steven Gerrard played in a much deeper role, alongside Lucas Leiva in the centre of midfield, while Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt were left to play just behind Fernando Torres.

The creativity produced by Benayoun showed he can help ease the pressure on Gerrard and Torres, and the lively Israel captain scored the opening goal with a fine individual effort in the 27th minute. He surged from midfield, turned away from Graham Alexander and moved into the box to fire across Jensen and into the bottom corner.

Liverpool went further ahead after 40 minutes with a dynamic five-man break from defence. Torres and Insua combined to set up Benayoun for a 20-yard shot that Jensen blocked, but only as far as Kuyt, who clipped the ball home from five yards.

Gerrard, playing in a deeper midfield role, still made an impact in attack as he forced his way into the Burnley box before squaring a ball for Benayoun to tap in for his second, and Liverpool’s third goal.

With the points secure, Benitez took the opportunity to give Philipp Degen his league debut 14 months into his Anfield stay.

This was Benayoun's day, however. The Israeli was denied a hat-trick by the offside flag after pouncing on another Jensen parry but he was not to be denied a second time when in the 81st minute, Voronin’s pass sent him clear in the box and he side-footed the ball past an exposed Jensen, having being played onside by Jordan.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

In their next match, Liverpool will kick-off their 2009-10 Champions League campaign with a home encounter against Debreceni on Wednesday. The Hungarian champions are something of an unknown quantity to the Reds as the two teams have never faced each other before.

Liverpool edge ten-man Bolton

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard's late winner earned his side a 3-2 victory at Bolton as they twice came from behind at the Reebok Stadium.

The Reds were made to fight desperately hard by a Bolton side who were down to 10 men for much of the second half.

Liverpool, who lost at home to Aston Villa on Monday, gave new Greek signing Sotirios Kyrgiakos his debut in place of Martin Skrtel, while Spanish winger Albert Riera replaced Yossi Benayoun on the left-flank.

Liverpool's poor defensive marking at set-pieces had been found wanting in recent games, and it proved yet again to be their downfall when Bolton took the lead in the 35th minute. Matt Taylor’s corner kick found Johan Elmander at the far post who headed it down into the six-yard box for Kevin Davies to turn past Jose Reina. There was not a single red shirt anywhere in the six-yard box to challenge Kevin Davies as he booted home.

But Liverpool hit back when right-back Glen Johnson punished a poor clearance from a corner with a low drive from the edge of the box.

Bolton went ahead again two minutes after the re-start. Liverpool failed to clear a right-wing cross, and Kevin Davies flicked the ball across the box for Tamir Cohen to lash the ball home from eight-yards.

The turning point in the game came in the 54th minute when Sean Davis was dismissed for a second caution. Given a numerical advantage, Liverpool made the most of it, and minutes later they were level again when Gerrard's chip into the box was chested on by Dirk Kuyt into Fernando Torres' path for the striker to stab home.

And with less than eight minutes remaining captain Gerrard rifled home Torres' knockdown from Yossi Benayoun's corner to put Liverpool ahead.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

While Liverpool still need to improve to challenge for the title, they will be pleased to have secured victory in a game which they could hardly afford to lose. The upcoming one-week international break will provide a much needed opportunity for the team to work on improving their game before the next Premier League game against newcomers Burnley on Sep 12.

Liverpool’s poor form continues

Anfield fans were left frustrated when Liverpool crashed to their second Premier League defeat in nine days against Aston Villa, as Rafael Benitez's side continued their stuttering start to the new Premier League campaign.

The first loss to Villa in eight years leaves last season's runners-up six points behind Tottenham and Chelsea after three matches - and with as many losses as in all of its last campaign. The defeat also ended Liverpool’s 31-match unbeaten home league record stretching back to December 2007, when Manchester United were the last winners at Anfield.

Liverpool started brightly and could have been ahead in the first minute when Benayoun’s back-header from a Torres chip beat Friedel but dropped inches wide.

Against the run of play, Villa took the lead after 33 minutes when Lucas gave away a free-kick in midfield. Young swung the set-piece towards the near post, and it was the unfortunate Lucas who rose to head the ball past Reina for an own-goal.

Villa grabbed a second on the stroke of half-time when Curtis Davies headed in Nicky Shorey's corner at the near post.

The Kop urged Liverpool forward as they lay siege to Villa's goal after the break. And as the pressure mounted, with Dirk Kuyt heading against the post after Carragher flicked on Gerrard's cross, Torres threw Liverpool a lifeline with 18 minutes remaining as he steered in a simple finish following good work from Emiliano Insua.

Hope was revived inside Anfield, but was snuffed out inside three minutes when Gerrard's badly-mistimed tackle on Reo-Coker resulted in a penalty, which Young converted calmly.

Watch all the Liverpool goals here.

Rafa knows that his Liverpool side needs to improve dramatically on their performance if they wish to stake a claim for the Premiership title. Immediate attention is needed on the handling of set-pieces as all five goals that Liverpool have conceded so far this season have come from either free kicks or penalties.

This Saturday, Liverpool will play their second away game of the campaign against Bolton Wanderers. The Reds have enjoyed a good record at the Reebok Stadium in recent seasons - last term, goals from Kuyt and Gerrard secured a comfortable 2-0 victory, while back in 2007-08, Aurelio scored his first goal for Liverpool in a fine 3-1 victory, with Gerrard and Babel also on target for Liverpool.