London - Liverpool ruined Fernando Torres's much-heralded Chelsea debut on Sunday when they won 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to spoil the champions' hopes of taking advantage of Manchester United's first defeat of the season.
Torres, who moved from Anfield to Chelsea last week for a reported $80.54m, had two early chances but faded before being substituted after 66 minutes, much to the delight of the travelling Liverpool fans.
Liverpool defended superbly throughout and secured their fourth successive win - all with clean sheets - three minutes later when Raul Meireles took advantage of a mix-up between Petr Cech and Branislav Ivanovic to hook in the only goal.
Manchester United, beaten by bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday, lead the standings on 54 points. Arsenal, who blew a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 in an incredible match at Newcastle United, are second on 50.
Manchester City are third on 49 with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur on 44. Liverpool moved up to sixth on 38.
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.
David Moyes
Jose Mourinho
Pep Guardiola
Jurgen Klopp
Ryan Giggs
View Results | Vote Archive
33% David Moyes
29% Jose Mourinho
14% Pep Guardiola
6% Jurgen Klopp
18% Ryan Giggs
Vote Archive
GEN De la Rey says, with many of his Bulls favourites blossoming in Super Rugby, 2013 will be the year Heyneke Meyer will impress with the Springboks.
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.