Chelsea F.C.–Liverpool F.C. Rivalry

The Chelsea F.C.–Liverpool F.C. rivalry is an inter-city rivalry between English professional football clubs Chelsea and Liverpool. Chelsea play their home games at Stamford Bridge, while Liverpool play their home games at Anfield.

Though both clubs have frequently competed in the same division for over a century, the modern rivalry between Chelsea and Liverpool began in the early 2000s, when the two clubs clashed repeatedly in cup competitions, particularly in the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the UEFA Champions League. The clubs have competed in seven major cup finals: the 2005 League Cup final, which Chelsea won 3–2 after extra time, the 2006 Community Shield, which Liverpool won 2–1, the 2012 FA Cup final, which Chelsea won 2–1, the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, which Liverpool won 5–4 on penalties, the 2022 EFL Cup and FA Cup finals, both of which saw Liverpool win on penalties after two goalless affairs, and the 2024 EFL Cup final, which Liverpool won 1–0 after extra time. The two clubs also met in five consecutive Champions League campaigns; in the group stage of the 2005–06 season, where both legs finished as goalless draws, in the quarter-finals of the 2008–09 season, which Chelsea won 7–5 on aggregate, and in the semi-finals of the 2004–05, 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons, with Liverpool winning the former two and Chelsea winning the latter one.

Overall, Liverpool have won more of the meetings, defeating Chelsea 87 times to their 66 wins, and a further 46 games ended in draws, as of their latest clash in May 2025. Chelsea's record win over the Reds was a 6–1 thrashing at Stamford Bridge in August 1937, whereas Liverpool's biggest win was a 6–0 home win in April 1935. Liverpool also lead in terms of total trophies won, with 69 to Chelsea's 35.

Background

Chelsea

In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium in Fulham with the aim of turning it into a football ground. An offer to lease it to nearby Fulham F.C. was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. As there was already a team named Fulham in the borough, the name of the adjacent borough of Chelsea was chosen for the new club; names like ''Kensington FC'', ''Stamford Bridge FC'' and ''London FC'' were also considered. Chelsea Football Club was founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook), opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards.

Chelsea won promotion to the First Division in their second season, and yo-yoed between the First and Second Divisions in its early years. The team reached the 1915 FA Cup final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the club's best league campaign to that point. Chelsea had a reputation for signing star players and attracted large crowds. The club had the highest average attendance in English football in ten separate seasons including 1907–08, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1913–14 and 1919–20. They were FA Cup semi-finalists in 1920 and 1932, and remained in the First Division throughout the 1930s, but success eluded the club in the inter-war years.

Liverpool

Liverpool Football Club was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892 and Houlding founded Liverpool F.C. to play at Anfield. Originally named "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd" (Everton Athletic for short), the club became Liverpool F.C. in March 1892 and gained official recognition three months later, after The Football Association refused to recognise the club as Everton.

Liverpool played their first match on 1 September 1892, a pre-season friendly match against Rotherham Town, which they won 7–1. The team Liverpool fielded against Rotherham was composed entirely of Scottish players—the players who came from Scotland to play in England in those days were known as the Scotch Professors. Manager John McKenna had recruited the players after a scouting trip to Scotland—so they became known as the "team of Macs". The team won the Lancashire League in its debut season and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After the club was promoted to the First Division in 1896, Tom Watson was appointed manager. He led Liverpool to its first league title in 1901, before winning it again in 1906.

History

Competitive matches and Liverpool success (1907–2002)

Chelsea and Liverpool were not traditional rivals, meeting first for the first time on 25 December 1907 at Anfield in the Football League First Division, which ended in a 4–1 win for Chelsea. However, for the next 96 years, Chelsea would only manage one single league title, which came in 1955, whereas Liverpool (who were already two-time champions) would go on to win the First Division title sixteen more times, cementing the Reds' status as one of the biggest clubs in England, along with major rivals Manchester United, whereas Chelsea were considered to be a mid-table club, and their rivalry with Liverpool was non-existent during the years leading up to the 21st century.

Abramovich takeover and rivalry beginnings (2003–04)

The seeds of the Chelsea vs. Liverpool rivalry were beginning to be sowed in May 2003. The first major meeting that would spark this feud was on the final day of the 2002–03 Premier League season, where fourth-placed Chelsea were to play fifth-placed Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in a clash for UEFA Champions League football. Both teams were level on 64 points, with the Blues having a +8 superior goal difference. The three teams that were above them, Manchester United in 1st, Arsenal in 2nd and Newcastle United in 3rd had already accumulated enough points to qualify for next season's Champions League, and sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers were unable to qualify, meaning Liverpool had to defeat Chelsea otherwise they would miss out on Champions League football next season. A goal from Sami Hyypiä in the 11th minute put the Reds 1–0 up, but Chelsea equalised just two minutes later through Marcel Desailly. Fourteen minutes later, Chelsea found themselves ahead via a Jesper Grønkjær strike. Steven Gerrard