Chelsea vs Liverpool Timeline & H2H Stats

In some ways, there is no real reason why Chelsea and Liverpool should have a rivalry of any sorts. The two clubs are based in completely different parts of the country, with Chelsea obviously being one of the main clubs in London and Liverpool being Merseyside-based. Similarly, when Liverpool were winning league titles seemingly every year they weren’t threatened by Chelsea, then when the Blues were looking to dominate the English game the Merseysiders weren’t one of the clubs also battling it out at the top of the Premier League. Yet there has undoubtedly been some bad blood between the two clubs over the years.

They first met in 1907 when Chelsea won 4-1 in a Division One match. In the years that followed, the two clubs tended to win and lose as many as each other, with it taking until 1915 before a draw was the end result. They met in the FA Cup for the first time in 1932, Chelsea knocking the Reds out with a 2-0 win at Anfield. There have also been some high-scoring games between the sides, such as when Liverpool won 6-0 a few months after Chelsea had beaten them 4-1 in the years between the two World Wars. The met in the FA Cup final for the first time in 2011-2012, which Chelsea won, then Liverpool won it a decade later.

A Rivalry Filled With Enmity

The nasty side of the rivalry between the two clubs mainly started during the era when José Mourinho was Chelsea manager and Rafael Benítez was in charge of Liverpool, with the two teams meeting each other on a regular enough basis to mean that familiarity bred contempt. The Merseysiders knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League during the 2004-2005 season thanks to what Mourinho referred to as a ‘ghost goal’, with the Portuguese manager having stoked the flames of rivalry with his celebration when the Blues won the League Cup against them a few months before. It took a while for them to meet in the big competitions, but when they did they were some ding-dong battles.

Chelsea won the League Cup when they faced Liverpool in the final of the competition for the first time in that 2005 match, but Liverpool then won it against the Blues in both 2022 and 2024, also winning the FA Cup in that 2021-2022 season. The UEFA Super Cup of 3019 pitted Champions League winners Liverpool against Europa League winners Chelsea in a match that finished 2-2 before the Merseyside club won it on penalties. Although there has developed a feeling of mutual respect between the clubs over the years, you would be hard-pushed to find supporters of either side who would be quick to label the other team their ‘second club’.

Chelsea’s Full Match History Against Liverpool