BEFORE yesterday’s game, Rafael Benitez declared he was hopeful of soon locking horns with Carlo Ancelotti in a third Champions League final.
But the growing fear is that the managerial foes will not be competing for honours at the top of the Premier League this season.
While the championship is not won by October, it can be lost. And the evidence suggests Liverpool will struggle to replicate their enthralling title challenge of the previous campaign.
What else to believe after a disappointing defeat at Chelsea, a third loss in their first eight Premier League games?