Chelsea rout Liverpool

Rampant Chelsea taught Liverpool a lesson on Sunday, thrashing the European champions 4-1 at Anfield to charge nine points clear at the top ...

Rampant Chelsea taught Liverpool a lesson on Sunday, thrashing the European champions 4-1 at Anfield to charge nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Goals by Frank Lampard, Damien Duff, Joe Cole and Geremi gave the English champions their eighth win out of eight in the league and left Liverpool a staggering 17 points behind them with less than a quarter of the season gone.

Another of Chelsea’s chief rivals, Arsenal, needed a late, deflected shot by substitute Robin van Persie to secure a much-needed 1-0 victory over 10-man Birmingham City at Highbury.

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However, they still trail Chelsea by 11 points. The leaders have 24, followed by Charlton Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur on 15. Manchester United have 14 points and Arsenal 13, although both have a game in hand on Chelsea.

Liverpool have only seven points in 13th place, albeit from two games less than Chelsea.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Everton remained rooted to the bottom after a 2-0 defeat at Manchester City, struggling Aston Villa lost 2-3 at home to Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic beat visiting Bolton Wanderers 2-1.

Wednesday’s Champions League game between Liverpool and Chelsea had ended goalless but the deadlock lasted only 27 minutes on Sunday.