IF Thomas Tuchel tuned in to witness this heavyweight Premier League battle, there would have been one man who made him sit up and take notice.

And while there were six Englishmen in the starting line-up of his former club Chelsea, it was Liverpool’s match-winner Curtis Jones who demanded his attention.

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At 23, and into his fifth season as a regular Anfield first-teamer, it is surprising that Scouser Jones is yet to win a full England cap.

Many more performances like this and Jones will not be ignored by new Three Lions boss Tuchel.

Jones did not just net the winner early in the second half to send Liverpool back to the top of the table, but he won the penalty for Mo Salah’s opener, was originally awarded a second spot-kick, and produced an outstanding all-round display.

It was Liverpool’s seventh straight win in all competitions and their 10th in 11 outings under Arne Slot, as they re-asserted their one-point lead over champions Manchester City at the start of a run of demanding fixtures.

For Chelsea, it was the end of a seven-match unbeaten run but a performance with plenty of positives for Enzo Maresca, who is bringing sanity to the Stamford Bridge madhouse.

Neither Slot nor Maresca seem inclined to spit poison as Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez often did during the golden age of the rivalry between these clubs.

Both new managers had enjoyed fine starts but both had been helped by relatively gentle fixture lists.

Maresca welcomed back skipper Reece James after an injury lay-off of almost a year, while Romeo Lavia was brought in for a rare start alongside Moises Caicedo – both midfielders having snubbed Liverpool for the Blues last year.

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FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS

From the off it was testy and tempestuous with ref John Brooks the centre of attention.

First up, Tosin Adarabioyo pulled down Diogo Jota just inside the Chelsea half but with Levi Colwill covering the Chelsea defender escaped with a yellow card – narrowly avoiding the same fate as Arsenal’s William Saliba the previous day.

Next Jadon Sancho went down after a tangle with Trent Alexander-Arnold but Brooks turned down his penalty appeals. Chelsea were playing some neat stuff early on.

Noni Madueke, who was giving kittens to Andy Robertson, teed up for Cole Palmer, whose shot was blocked by Jones. But then the Liverpool penalty shouts began to rain down.

Salah went down under pressure from Colwill but the Egyptian was too obvious in looking for spot-kick.

Slot earned a yellow for dissent but he didn’t have to wait long for a successful spot-kick appeal against Colwill.

This time Colwill tripped Jones and Brooks pointed to the spot, Salah hammering home and sending Robert Sanchez the wrong way after plenty of Chelsea delaying tactics.

It was Salah’s seventh goal of the season and a kick in the wotsits for the club which allowed him to leave early in his career.

Jota, struggling after an early knock, was replaced by Darwin Nunez but soon Liverpool thought they had doubled their lead.

A poor kick from Sanchez put Chelsea under pressure and a slick move from Jones to Salah to Cody Gakpo, netting at the back stick, came to nothing courtesy of an offside flag.

Maresca was hopping mad when Nicolas Jackson angled a shot narrowly wide of the near post when he might have aimed across goal.

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In first-half injury-time, Nunez slipped a pass to Jones, who kippered Tosin with his turn and was brought down by an on-rushing Sanchez.

Brooks pointed to the spot again but was sent to his screen by VAR Michael Oliver who spotted that Sanchez touched the ball before the man.

The on-field ref concurred with his more senior colleague in Stockley Park – but Sanchez had got lucky – it was a subjective call and the ‘light touch’ VAR approach appears to be fading, as most refereeing edicts do.

Before the break, Madueke teased Robertson again and laid back for Palmer, who shot over.It was a warning shot for Liverpool but one they didn’t heed because Chelsea were soon level at the start of the second.

Caicedo’s through-ball was met by a perfectly-timed run from Jackson who drilled past Caoimhin Kelleher – although Oliver was needed again to overturn an incorrect offside call.

Slot’s men were straight back at it, though, and regained their lead within 76 seconds.

Salah’s low centre was met with a Jones surge to the back post, where he cheated the offside trap, controlled and poked past Sanchez.

Maresca, who had sent on Pedro Neto for Sancho at half-time, responded with a triple substitution – introducing Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile and Renato Veiga.

But Liverpool were sensible in managing their slim lead.

Jones departed ten minutes from time to a standing ovation – and Tuchel might even have got off his sofa to applaud him as well.

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Lauren James has withdrawn from the England squad for the October internationals with a calf injury.

The forward, 23, was named in Chelsea’s starting line-up for their Champions League win over Twente on Thursday, but was replaced by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd after the warm-up.

Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor confirmed before their Women’s Super League (WSL) match with Tottenham that James is expected to miss the next five to six weeks.

The Lionesses face Germany at Wembley on Friday, 25 October, before taking on South Africa at Coventry City’s home on Tuesday, 29 October.

England manager Sarina Wiegman does not plan on calling up a replacement for James, with the squad meeting at St George’s Park on Monday.

Her equaliser at Villa on Sunday typified this when, after home keeper Sabrina D’Angelo flapped at a cross, Hemp reacted quickest after the loose ball bounced unexpectedly off her head. In one movement, she repositioned her body and deftly flicked the ball over the Canadian and into the net.

“We seem to keep doing it the hard way but we got three points in the end,” Hemp told the BBC.

“The goal, it was a good cross, she [D’Angelo] managed to get her hand to it, so I just tried to get anything on it, and it happened to come off my head. I knew the goalkeeper was off her line so I just tried to kick it over her and it managed to do the trick.”

Hemp has won the FA Cup and League Cup after joining from Bristol City in 2018, but not a WSL title – a trophy City have not claimed since 2016.

They had been leading the race last season in a thrilling climax, but defending champions Chelsea triumphed on the final day.

“It was heartbreak for us last season when we didn’t manage to win the title,” admitted Hemp.

“That’s one of our aims this season. Hopefully if we keep putting in performances like that who knows where we could go.”

For now, Hemp’s attentions turn to England duty, with the Lionesses facing friendlies against Germany and South Africa over the next fortnight as they warm up for the defence of their Euros title next summer.

As at City, her importance for the national team has grown. Not only did she start all six qualifiers, but she has kept her form and fitness while all around are losing theirs.

Lauren James will be absent for this international break through injury, while club team-mate Chloe Kelly is in the squad, despite losing her place in the City team, where she has made one start all season.

Beth Mead is also out of favour at Arsenal, benched by interim manager Renee Slegers against West Ham on Sunday. Neither Alessia Russo nor Ella Toone have scored in the league in 2024-25.

This could be Hemp’s year and, if it is, never count City out of the title reckoning.

LIVERPOOL held on to beat Chelsea 2-1 in a thriller as they moved to the top of the Premier League table.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring against his former club from the penalty spot after Levi Colwill tripped Curtis Jones in the box.

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Chelsea went into the break trailing and it was nearly worse, only for VAR to overturn a second Liverpool penalty after Robert Sanchez’s lunge on Jones.

The Blues came out from the break flying and Nicolas Jackson equalised.

But they failed to hold on with star of the show Jones netting the winner just minutes later.

Here is how SunSport rated the Chelsea players at Anfield.

ROBERT SANCHEZ – 5

Survived a shocker of a challenge on Jones to not give away a pen and never convincing.

REECE JAMES – 6

Got through 53 minutes in first start since last December and will surely shake off the rust.

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TOSIN ADARABIOYO – 5  

Booked early on for clattering into Diogo Jota and no surprise was hooked for the second half.

LEVI COLWILL –  5

Got away with one challenge against a diving Salah but a no- challenge penalty after hacked on Jones.

MALO GUSTO – 7  

Intelligent display and constant threat down the left flank in the first half especially.

MOISES CAICEDO – 5

At £105m and in Chelsea’s biggest test of the season was found badly wanting.

ROMEO LAVIA – 5

Got the nod over Enzo Fernandez from the start but failed to show any urgency.

NONI MADUEKE – 6

Always mobile and was productive playing as a right-sided attacker – giving Robertson a tough afternoon.

COLE PALMER – 5  

Deployed in central midfield but struggled to show his star quality and blazed over a good chance just before the break.

JADON SANCHO  – 4

Lacked any real spark and unsurprisingly hooked off at the start of the second half.

NICOLAS JACKSON – 7

Picked up a typically mouthy booking but the boy definitely has something – as his fine equaliser proved.

SUBS:

PEDRO NETO (for Sancho 46) – 6

Looked a whole lot livelier than the wide man he took over from.

BENOIT BADIASHILE (for Adarabioyo 53) – 6

Looked a lot steadier than the centre-back he replaced.

RENATO VEIGA (for James 53) – 5

Got stuck in and was booked.

ENZO FERNANDEZ (for Romeo Lavia) – 6

Worked diligently to use his passing to make an impact late on.

CHRISTOPHER NKUNKU (for Noni Madueke 76) – 5

Found it difficult to make his presence felt as the Reds dug in to win.