31 January 2024 , 23:02
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Mauricio Pochettino refused to condemn the match officials after his Chelsea flops fell to a chastening 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
The Blues went in trailing at the break courtesy of goals from Diogo Jota and Conor Bradley before Dominik Szoboszlai added a third for the hosts shortly after the interval. Christopher Nkunku briefly gave Chelsea hope before Luis Diaz struck in the 79th minute to extinguish any chance of an unlikely fightback.
The result may have been comprehensive but it wasn't without controversy, with Chelsea denied two penalty shouts. Neither were awarded by VAR - but Pochettino was reluctant to point the finger of blame post-match.
He said: "It's not a final excuse. They deserved to win. They were better than us. But to talk about this, I don't want to talk about that because it's part of football. They were better than us from the first action. In this kind of game, you need to say 'well done Liverpool.
The Argentine continued: "They were more at it than us. It was difficult for us to connect and play. We lost the ball so easy. When we say they compete better, they were better than us in the areas.
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"In the second-half of the game, at 2-0, we create a chance that Mudryk has and if we score maybe we get confidence and play better. Even if we scored and drew, then we would be disappointed because our performance wasn't great."
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Mauricio Pochettino slammed his team's performance following the 4-1 loss against Liverpool (Sky Sports)Wednesday night's match at Anfield was a dress rehearsal of next month's Carabao Cup final, which will be contested between the two sides at Wembley.
Pochettino warned the Blues that they would need to significantly up their game ahead of that rematch if they are to stand any chance of lifting the trophy ahead of their rivals. He did stress, though, that it would be a different match away from Anfield.
He added: "For sure, it is going to be different in a neutral place. Of course, that is the feeling. It's good because we want to compete. And if we compete in the same way as today, it will be the same result. If we don't improve, then it's going to be difficult. For us, it's about to learn in this kind of game. We were competing against a team that is at the top. It is good for us to feel we need to improve."