Match Report: Individual Quality Shines Through for Chelsea

Following Arsenal's win at Newcastle, this was a game that neither team could afford to lose. Both Chelsea and Liverpool harbour title aspirations after their starts to the campaign and with Manchester City and Everton both also securing victory over the weekend, 3 points was essential. While fans had expected a cagey affair, such has been the custom between top teams in the Premier League, the encounter at Stamford Bridge began in a way quite the opposite. Martin Skrtel's opener was cancelled out by Eden Hazard's equaliser before Samuel Eto'o netted the eventual winner in a pulsating first half in west London.

However, as the game wore on, the quality in football dropped, and unsurprisingly so. The hectic festive period will always tire teams and that was certainly the case in Sunday's fixture - Eto'o, Branislav Ivanovic, Frank Lampard, Joe Allen and Mamadou Sakho were substituted as the result of injuries.

With both teams playing their second game in 3 days, fatigue was always going to play a defining role in the encounter. The pass success of each respective team - a below par 77% for the pairing - was a telling indicator as to the impact of the winter schedule. It was Chelsea's 4th lowest this season and the 3rd lowest for Liverpool, a poor return from two sides that both boast a WhoScored style of play of 'short passes'.

Ultimately, individual quality shone through for the hosts that saw them secure maximum points at Stamford Bridge. Blues manager José Mourinho boasts an abundance of attacking talent in his squad, emphasised on his bench in the win. Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Andre Schürrle all started as substitutes as Hazard, Oscar and Willian were all tasked with providing the ammunition for Eto'o up front.

Hazard, Chelsea's highest rated player of the season with an average of 7.53, moved onto 8 league goals with his 17th minute equaliser and he's now only 1 short of matching his tally from last season (9). While the Belgian completed only 2 dribbles in the win (his most in a single game this term is 13) his total of 3 shots was the most of every player on the pitch as he continues to live up to expectations.

Teammate Oscar has regularly provided the offensive impetus in the attacking triumvirate under Mourinho this season and he turned out a consistent display once again as his WhoScored rating (7.7) suggests. The Brazilian won an impressive 8 aerial duels in the win, the most of every player, and helped himself to his first Premier League assist of the season, having executed 18 key passes before Sunday's encounter without assisting a single goal.

It was quite the opposite for the Reds, with Skrtel (7.8) and Daniel Agger (7.5) their highest rated players. With 33% of the match occurring in the visitors' defensive third - compared to 23% at the other end - it's little surprise to have seen the pair score so highly, despite Liverpool conceding 2 and succumbing to defeat.

While Liverpool's defence performed admirably, the individual attributes within the Chelsea attack proved to be the difference in an encounter that began in an open manner, but turned turgid and cautious as the game wore on.

The victory saw Chelsea move back to within 2 points of league leaders Arsenal heading into 2014, but successive defeats mean Liverpool have dropped to 5th in the table, 6 points behind the table-topping Gunners.

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