So Rafael Benitez took Chelsea to face his former club Liverpool at Anfield today and there was a return to their old club for Torres and Benayoun as well as Daniel Sturridge facing his old Chelsea team-mates.

The game started brightly with a good chance for Glen Johnson early on but he missed the target and it harmlessly went for a goal kick. Coutinho then almost set up Suarez on 24 mins but Chelsea thwarted the attack and promptly went up the other end with Hazard earning a corner with a good run. Chelsea took full advantage of the corner as Oscar headed in from a great delivery by Mata beating Reina in the Liverpool goal for a 1-0 lead.

It was an intense game and Henderson got a yellow for fouling Hazard. Luiz took the free kick from way outside the box with Reina fumbling it and only just recovering to stop it going over the line. Suarez then went close on 40mins with a decent effort but the first half ended with the Blues 1-0 up.

Rodgers sent on Sturridge for Philippe Coutinho at the beginning of the 2nd half and he improved Liverpool instantly, putting Gerrard in on goal with Cech needed to make a smart save to deny the Liverpool captain. Sturridge himself went close to scoring as he hit the post with a left footed drive before Suarez put him in with a great ball and Sturridge only had to guide the ball into the net which he did with ease, putting Liverpool back on level terms at 1-1.

Suarez then became the Liverpool villain as he blatantly handballed a corner and Chelsea were awarded a pen which Hazard duly converted to put Chelsea back in front 2-1.

In the next incident, Luiz fouled Carragher on the edge of the box on 66 mins and Carragher protested for a pen thinking it was in the box but the ref got it right only awarding a free kick as the offense happened outside the box. Suarez took a shot but missed the target from the edge of the box.

Then on the next Liverpool attack, on the slow motion replay you could clearly see that a still frustrated Suarez is biting the arm of Ivanovic – surely he will face disciplinary action after the game plus he has previous, having been banned for 7 games for biting the shoulder of midfielder Otman Bakkal of PSV Eindhoven when he was playing for Ajax in 2010. This was inexcusable from the Uruguayan striker and he should face the full force of the FA’s disciplinary panel for this disgraceful act.

On 77 mins, with Liverpool having all the possession and momentum, Benitez sent on Benayoun in place of Hazard to try to change things around. Rodgers responded a few minutes later by replacing Downing with Shelvey.

Victor Moses then came on to replace the tiring Oscar, before Shelvey looked like he would score after he was put in on goal by a brilliant flick from Sturridge but fortunately for the Blues he put it wide. Sturridge was in the spotlight again a few minutes later as he put his foot in on Bertrand and he should have got a yellow and he could have even got a straight red.

Lampard came on for Mata as Benitez make his final change to use up time. Liverpool pressed and pressed winning corners and pressurizing the Chelsea goal with Henderson going close but sensationally Suarez had the final say heading in from Sturridge’s cross, turning from villain to hero again. The Blues almost managed to make it through the six minutes of added time to preserve their 2-1 advantage, but Luis Suarez made sure he took the headlines for bad reason and good unfortunately.

Chelsea now sit in 4th, 1 point behind Arsenal with a game in hand and are 1 point ahead of Spurs in 5th who beat Manchester City 3-1 today and Spurs have played the same number of games as the Blues. What a crazy end of season run-in for the Champions League places…let’s hope the Blues can make it over the line in the top 4.