Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson scored with a terrific strike as Chelsea suffered their first defeat under Antonio Conte.
They were 2-0 down at half-time after goals from Henderson and Dejan Lovren.
And although Diego Costa’s goal – his fifth of the season – just after the hour mark gave the Blues hope, they were unable to find an equaliser.
Lovren put Liverpool ahead on 17 minutes when he ghosted in unmarked to meet Philippe Coutinho’s ball in from the left with a first-time sidefoot.
Chelsea, without injured captain John Terry and with David Luiz playing for the first time since his surprise return from Paris St-Germain, pushed forward but were frustrated by the visitors’ resolute defending.
And worse followed for them 10 minutes before the interval, when Henderson found the top corner of the net with a glorious 30-yard curler.
Chelsea at last managed to breach the Reds defence when Nemanja Matic got to the left-hand touchline and cut the ball back for Costa, who netted from close range.
Costa then fired straight at keeper Simon Mignolet after being teed up by Oscar’s header.
Liverpool remained a threat on the counter-attack and were denied a third goal when Thibaut Courtois kept out substitute Divock Origi’s header from James Milner’s left-wing cross.
Conte waited until seven minutes from time to make his first change – and it was a triple substitution, with Cesc Fabregas, Victor Moses and Pedro replacing Willian, Oscar and Matic.
But Liverpool stood firm to secure a deserved victory.
This post was last modified on 16/09/2016