Jordan Henderson scored a peach of a goal as Liverpool proved too good for Chelsea, securing a 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Friday night.

Much of the hype prior to the game was over David Luiz’s return to the Chelsea line-up in the absence of John Terry, but there was little that Luiz could have done to prevent Dejan Lovren’s 17th-minute opener, with Luiz’s team-mates conspiring to leave three red-shirted players free at the back post.

And there was nothing Luiz could have done to stop Liverpool’s second either, with Henderson picking out the top corner from range with an absurdly good long-range strike.

In-form Diego Costa pulled one back after Nemanja Matic’s skill on the by-line, but Liverpool held on for the three points.

TALKING POINT: Are Liverpool potential Premier League champions?

An opening day win at Arsenal, a 4-1 home win over the current champions Leicester City last Saturday, and now a 2-1 win over the 2015 champions at Chelsea tonight. With a point from their visit to Tottenham on 27 August to boot, Jurgen Klopp's side are doing the business against the top teams.

Liverpool now lie third in the table with 10 points from five games, and with German goalkeeper Loris Karius and midfielder Emre Can on the comeback trail following injury, things are looking good for the red half of Merseyside. The one blot on the copybook is that 2-0 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor last month.

Jurgen Klopp's side face winnable games against Hull City next week, and Swansea the following week. If Liverpool take six points from those two matches, their fans may start to dream of a first league title since 1990.

MAN OF THE MATCH - Joel Matip (Liverpool)

The Cameroon defender, picked up on a free transfer from Schalke in the summer, spoke before the match about how determined he was not to be intimidated by Chelsea striker Diego Costa.

But in the end, the 25-year-old didn't need to match the Brazil-born Spanish international for aggression – his superb positioning and anticipation of play proved enough. Costa did score for Chelsea just after the hour mark, and, energised by his fifth goal in five games, looked dangerous for the next ten minutes.

But Matip soon recovered to quell the Premier League top scorer's threat even with Chelsea chasing the game. Making only his third Premier League appearance for Liverpool, Matip already looks the real deal at this level.