Premier League drama live: Liverpool edge Chelsea in five-goal thriller

Liverpool outgun Chelsea in a wild Anfield showdown as Salah and Núñez light it up while Nkunku hits back. But the title race just got even crazier…

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-01-24, the pitch is on fire... You wanted football results today? You just got absolute chaos in the Premier League live, with Liverpool and Chelsea serving up a five-goal, end-to-end classic at Anfield that’s already blowing up every social feed.

The headline match: Liverpool 3–2 Chelsea. Goals, woodwork, VAR drama – this one had it all. For anyone tracking football results today, this was the game you could not afford to miss.

Match Analysis: Liverpool vs Chelsea – Anfield turns into a madhouse

From the first whistle, you could tell this wasn’t going to end quietly. Liverpool flew out of the blocks and got their reward when Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock. After a slick passing move down the right, Darwin Núñez slipped the ball inside, and Salah did what Salah always does: one touch to set, second touch laced into the far corner. Salah 1–0.

Chelsea, though, actually responded well. Christopher Nkunku was buzzing between the lines, and it was the Frenchman who dragged them level. A cutback from the left found Nkunku on the edge of the area; he shaped to curl it, sent a defender sliding, then drilled low past Alisson. Nkunku 1–1. Stamford Bridge energy at Anfield.

Just when Chelsea looked settled, Liverpool hit them with a pure chaos goal. A corner swung in by Dominik Szoboszlai, Núñez rose highest, his header pinged off the bar, and Virgil van Dijk reacted quickest to stab it over the line. The stadium exploded – van Dijk 2–1, and Anfield was bouncing.

The real heart-stopper came late on. With Chelsea pushing, they got caught on the break. Salah drove forward, drew defenders, and rolled it right to Darwin Núñez. One touch, bang – bottom corner. Núñez 3–1. The celebration was wild, Núñez straight to the corner flag, chest out, screaming into the cameras.

Game over? Not even close. Chelsea refused to die. A long diagonal found Cole Palmer bursting into the box, and after a clever first touch inside, he smashed home to make it 3–2. The away end went crazy, and suddenly every Liverpool fan was biting their nails.

VAR drama and late nerves

The hot topic of the night, though, has to be the late VAR check for a Chelsea penalty. Deep into stoppage time, Nkunku tumbled in the box after a tangle with Ibrahima Konaté. The referee initially pointed to the spot – chaos – but VAR dragged him to the monitor. After a long look, the decision was overturned, judged as minimal contact. Liverpool fans roared like they’d just scored a fourth; Chelsea’s bench absolutely lost it. On social media, that one decision is getting slowed down frame by frame from every angle.

Big-name Performers: Heroes and flops

Mohamed Salah was pure star power again. One goal, constant threat, and he kept asking questions every time he got the ball on the right. He might not have bagged a hat-trick, but his timing and composure on that opener set the tone. This was vintage Salah – not just a scorer, but the main reference point every attack flowed through.

Darwin Núñez had one of those nights that sums him up: raw, chaotic, but absolutely decisive. A goal, involved in another, and nearly scored with that thunderous header off the bar. Sure, he wasted a big one-on-one earlier, but when it mattered, he delivered. In my book, that’s a match-winning performance.

For Chelsea, Christopher Nkunku was their standout. His goal was pure quality, and every time he picked up the ball between Liverpool’s midfield and defence, you could feel the panic. Cole Palmer also showed ice-cold finishing for his goal, but he drifted in and out of the game, which will frustrate Chelsea fans who know he can completely take over a match.

On the flip side, some big names struggled. Reece James had a torrid time defensively when isolated one-on-one, and even going forward, his crossing lacked its usual laser precision. For Liverpool, Alexis Mac Allister had some sloppy moments in possession, putting his defence under pressure; he escaped without a major error leading to a goal, but it wasn’t his cleanest outing.

What this does to the table and title race

That narrow win keeps Liverpool right in the thick of the title fight. Drop points here and suddenly the momentum shifts towards their rivals; instead, they’ve sent a loud message that Anfield is still one of the toughest places to survive. Chelsea, meanwhile, remain stuck in that uncomfortable middle zone – too inconsistent to really surge into the top four, yet too talented to be written off.

What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings

With this result, Liverpool climb the ladder and pile pressure on the teams above and below them. Goal difference, head-to-head, games in hand – it all matters now, and every matchday is starting to feel like a mini cup final.

Social Media Spotlight: VAR rage and goal GIF overload

The internet is absolutely melting down over that overturned penalty. Chelsea fans are convinced Nkunku was clipped, Liverpool fans are posting angle after angle saying he went down too easily, and neutrals… are just here for the chaos.

Clips of Salah’s opener and Núñez’s finish are getting clipped, memed, slowed down, reversed, you name it. Meanwhile, every freeze-frame of that Nkunku-Konaté clash in the box is being used as Exhibit A or Exhibit B depending on which side you’re on.

Reporter's Take: Bold words on a wild night

From my seat, this felt like a statement night for Liverpool. The defending still has shaky moments, but the mentality is elite. You don’t win titles by playing perfect football every week – you win them by grinding out nights like this when your back four looks human and the opponent is brave enough to have a go.

Honestly, I think Chelsea’s game plan was brave but naive. They committed bodies forward, which made it a fun watch, but against a front line with Salah and Núñez, you just can’t leave that much space in transition and hope to survive. The talent is clearly there, but the game management isn’t. If they want Champions League football next season, they can’t keep learning this same lesson over and over.

As for the VAR drama: in my opinion, the referee ultimately got it just about right. There was contact, sure, but not enough to overturn the laws of physics. Nkunku was already going down, and Konaté didn’t make a clear, brutal challenge. In a huge match like this, you don’t want soft penalties deciding everything in the final seconds.

Closing Whistle: Title race heating up fast

So there you go – in the list of football results today, this one jumps straight to the top: Liverpool 3–2 Chelsea, Salah and Núñez delivering, Nkunku and Palmer fighting back, and VAR grabbing nearly as many headlines as the players.

Every point, every goal, every tiny swing matters now. If you're trying to make sense of where this leaves both clubs – and the rest of the league – you need to keep one eye on the live table as the drama keeps unfolding.

Check full stats & standings now

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