Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea: Premier League as it happened

That just about does it for this particular live blog, but be sure to stay with IBTimes UK as we bring you post-match reaction from across a busy night of fixtures in the Premier League and also keep you fully abreast of any late moves that occur before the 23.00 GMT transfer deadline.

Sport editor Nick Howson will also be back tomorrow night to guide you through another three-game slate comprised of Manchester United vs Hull, West Ham vs Manchester City and Stoke vs Everton.

Farewell for now.

Chelsea will no doubt be disappointed with that Costa penalty miss, but Arsenal's surprise home defeat by Watford means that they still extend their lead at the Premier League summit to nine points ahead of a meeting with the Gunners at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Tottenham have now moved up to second following a goalless draw at Sunderland.

Liverpool may feel they deserved victory having dominated large parts of the game, but they will have to settle for not equalling a 94-year old record of fourth successive home losses. The Reds, who travel to Hull this weekend before facing Tottenham, Leicester and Arsenal, remain 10 points off the title pace in fourth. They have won just one of their last nine matches across all competitions.

Klopp will hope that Mane's long-awaited return can spark something of a revival.

Full-time

Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea

Costa makes way for Michy Batshuayi. The Belgian forward might not get to touch the ball here.

Almost a chance for Liverpool to snatch a stoppage-time victory. Mane floats an inviting cross into Firmino, who can only guide his weak header straight at Courtois.

Pedro curls a left-footed shot wide after being teed up by N'Golo Kante. Klopp sends on Divock Origi in place of Lallana.

Three minutes of added time signalled by the fourth official.

Fabregas finds Pedro, who takes a great first touch before being denied by a well-timed sliding challenge from Henderson.

Matip and Lovren do not want to lay a hand on Costa as he drifts across the penalty area before providing a low cross that is gobbled up by Mignolet.

Chelsea's second change sees Cesc Fabregas replace Willian.

Less than 10 minutes remaining now and all the momentum is with Liverpool. Mane tries to pick out Firmino with a cross from the right but Courtois plucks it out of the air with confidence.

Willian is shown a yellow card after stopping Liverpool from proceeding with a quick free-kick.

Mignolet, atoning for his earlier error, gets down low to his right to repel Costa's spot-kick.

Great drama at Anfield.

PENALTY SAVED

Costa cuts inside Matip before being upended by the former Schalke stalwart. That looked very soft, it must be said...

PENALTY TO CHELSEA

Clyne sends a cross to the back post but Milner can only divert it over on the slide.

A certain Mane is now stripping off on the bench. The home crowd are sure to give him a generous welcome back.

Henderson delivers another eye-catching cross to the back post but Can is unable to get it under control.

71 minutes gone and Pedro replaces Hazard. That is the first change of the night from either manager.

Willian flashes a dangerous low pass across the face of goal. Costa tries to meet it on the slide but ends up getting nowhere near the ball.

Pedro is preparing to enter the fray for Chelsea.

The oft-maligned Belgian gets away with a miskick after Matic's handball...

Milner falls in the box following the slightest of shoves from Moses. Liverpool fans appeal hopefully for a penalty but Clattenburg isn't remotely interested.

Can looks to shift the ball inside onto his left foot and that allows Alonso time to make the block. Firmino is then flagged offside.

Liverpool are full of confidence just at the moment.

Milner is rightly booked for a full-blooded challenge on Moses.

Anfield erupts as Liverpool equalise before the 60-minute mark. After Lallana's initial shot is charged down by Matic, Henderson disguises a wonderful first-time pass to Milner at the back post.

His header back across goal deflects off Moses before being netted by Wijnaldum from close range.

Game on.

Goal: Liverpool 1-1 Chelsea (Georginio Wijnaldum)

Only a slight bit of miscommunication from Willian and Moses stops Chelsea from working another shot at goal after Matip's attempted clearance lands at the feet of a grateful Hazard.

Good defending from Costa on the edge of his own penalty area.

Lovren sends his own shot into orbit and Milner gifts possession to Moses after a backheel from Costa.

The Nigerian wing-back then looks to catch out Mignolet at his near post with a curling strike that clips the outside of the woodwork and sails wide.

Liverpool should be level. Hazard's sliding tackle after a fine piece of skill from Lallana opens things up for an unmarked Firmino, who loses all composure and fires a first-time shot miles over the crossbar from 12 yards.

That was a real chance. Why did he not take a touch?

An early sniff of goal for Wijnaldum, but Matic tracks back to thwart the danger.

A reminder that Liverpool, who went unbeaten at Anfield for more than 12 months, had not lost three home games on the bounce since 2012.

They have not lost four in a row since all the way back in 1923.

The second half is underway. No changes from either Klopp or Conte just yet.

Another frustrating 45 minutes for Liverpool, who dominated the early exchanges but, as so often has been the case just recently, could not make their pressure count.

Luiz's sweetly-struck free-kick was a thing of beauty, but neither the wall nor Mignolet exactly covered themselves in glory. This could be a very satisfying night indeed for Chelsea, particularly if Arsenal fail to launch a comeback against Watford and Tottenham do not beat Sunderland.

A big second half awaits.

Half-time

Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea

Two minutes of added time to be played at the end of this first half. Henderson looks to have been cautioned for protesting one of Clattenburg's decisions.

Mane appears to be having something - ice, perhaps? - applied to his knee after running through a few warm-ups. Klopp will be praying that he has not picked up any sort of injury.

That could be something to monitor.

Clyne tries to thread a low pass through for Coutinho, but the ball rolls safely into the hands of Courtois.

At the other end, Willian blazes an ambitious effort well over. He may have been better off looking for the run of Moses.

Costa hacks the ball away after Courtois flaps nervously at a Liverpool corner. Luiz is now back on the field. He has been excellent for Chelsea so far tonight.

Fine defensive work from Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta to keep Liverpool at bay. The former, who may have elbowed Firmino, goes down in pain after an innocuous coming together with Can.

He goes off the pitch to receive further treatment.

Luiz almost adds a second goal as two Chelsea players are inexplicably allowed to get goal-side of their markers.

Willian's searching free-kick is eventually diverted wide by Mignolet.

Replays show that Clattenburg did indeed blow his whistle before Luiz dispatched the ball through a flimsy wall that reduced from four men to three following Coutinho's breakaway.

What Mignolet was playing at, Lord only knows. He has to get ready quicker than that.

Liverpool can have legitimate complaints over the award of the free-kick, however.

What a goal. Luiz gets permission from Clattenburg to take the quick free-kick and proceeds to arrow a superb effort into the back of the net. Fabulous technique from the Brazilian.

Mignolet had not even reset his position after sorting out the wall. Chelsea have been comfortably second best during this opening half an hour, but they lead at Anfield.

Goal: Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea (David Luiz)

The ball bobbles of Hazard's knee but the Belgian is cunning enough to win a free-kick following a collision with Lallana.

Willian seizes on a poor pass from Matip and Hazard drives Chelsea forward. He eventually tees up Moses, whose attempted cross is deflected behind by Milner.

Wijnaldum clears the corner and Cahill is subsequently flagged for offside.

Conte shows his frustration with Chelsea's wretched early showing by booting the ball away in disgust and earns a ticking off from Clattenburg.

The flamboyant Italian certainly lives and breathes every moment on that touchline.

Diego Costa tumbles theatrically under minimal contact from Joel Matip. That was never likely to be given as a penalty.

Liverpool continue to dominate possession and do all of the early running. A cross-field ball from Henderson intended for James Milner sails out of play before Luiz tackles Firmino and Victor Moses intercepts a cross.

Chelsea again give the ball away and fail to find an appropriate outlet pass. After good work from Philippe Coutinho, Wijnaldum unleashes a powerful right-footed drive that is comfortably beaten away by Thibaut Courtois.

No doubts as to who has been the better team in this opening 12 minutes or so.

Liverpool launch another hopeful attack but Luiz is again on hand to snuff out the danger posed by Roberto Firmino.

Marcos Alonso sustains a painful early blow but is now back on his feet and looks OK to continue. Liverpool's confident start appears to have engaged the Anfield crowd, who have been understandably subdued of late.

Liverpool have started on the front foot and earn a corner as Nemanja Matic deflects Lallana's right-wing cross wide.

Luiz then stands firm to head clear in the six-yard box under serious pressure from Lovren. It's been a sloppy opening from Chelsea, who continue to concede possession cheaply.

It's been a wet day on Merseyside and the rain continues to steadily fall, no doubt making the Anfield surface greasy.

Both teams are donning their respective home strips tonight. Mark Clattenburg is your referee.

Just as the match gets underway, news filters through that Watford have taken a shock early 2-0 lead against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Incentive for both teams.

Five minutes remaining until kick-off.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last four league meetings against Chelsea, with whom they shared a particularly intense rivalry in the mid-2000s, although have not won any of the last four top-flight matches at Anfield.

Goals from Lovren and Henderson at Stamford Bridge saw Liverpool become the first team to beat Conte's Chelsea in September.

The Blues then suffered a rather embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Arsenal before switching to the manager's favoured three-man defensive system and embarking upon a superb winning run that saw them establish their credentials as firm title favourites.

Conte, meanwhile, believes a Chelsea victory tonight would deal Liverpool a serious mental blow...

For sure, it would be a hard hit, mentally, for them [if they lose]. But there are 15 games after this, and 45 points available before the season finishes. For this reason I think the result is important, but the result doesn't decide the season of Chelsea or Liverpool.

When there are these games ­between two great opponents, it's important to win to increase your confidence and to keep them ­behind us with the right distance.

[quotes via The Telegraph]

Klopp is aware that title rivals and neutral fans alike will all be in Liverpool's corner this evening, although he does not necessarily believe that a fourth-place finish would represent a failure...

I'm sure a lot of teams in the league are on our side and want us to win. That gap would obviously make the league a little bit more exciting for people. But that means nothing. We want to go for these three points and that's enough to be motivated at the highest, highest level.

If we are seven behind Chelsea we can't say now we go for them. They might win the rest of the games. We need the points. We cannot waste time or points any more. It's not about us saying we can catch them.

I think it's possible we could qualify for the Champions League and should we then say, 'Sorry, I know we lost here and there and that's why we didn't become champions'?

Is it allowed to celebrate a position like this, in this league, in this strong league, with the outstanding run of Chelsea so far? I think, yes, it should be allowed that we celebrate something like this.

[quotes via Sky Sports]

A revamped coach is the nearest that Liverpool are going to get to a new arrival on deadline day...

No Nathan Ake in Conte's matchday squad tonight. Bournemouth have apparently launched a surprise late £18m bid to resign their former loanee, although Chelsea are not expected to sell.

Ola Aina, Charly Musonda and Kenedy are also said to be staying put rather than heading out on temporary deals until the end of the season.

A couple of milestones for centre-backs tonight, with Dejan Lovren reaching a century of appearances across all competitions for Liverpool and David Luiz featuring in the Premier League for the 100th time.

The only slight surprise in that Chelsea lineup sees Willian given the nod ahead of Pedro.

Begovic is named as a substitute, effectively ending any speculation that he will leave the club tonight.

Mane starts on the bench for Liverpool, while Lallana and, rather surprisingly, Clyne are both deemed fit enough to play. Daniel Sturridge is also named as a substitute as Klopp opts for a three-man midfield of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Georginio Wijnaldum.

The official team news is out. Stand by...

Klopp never expected to complete any new signings today and so it has proven. It remains to be seen if out-of-favour centre-back Mamadou Sakho, who is in London, will complete a move to Crystal Palace before the 23.00 GMT deadline.

Newcastle United's failure to resign Andros Townsend may have just thrown a sizeable spanner in the works...

Tonight's seven Premier League matches are, you may well have noticed, taking place against the backdrop of the increasingly tedious television-driven modern footballing phenomenon that is transfer deadline day.

Chelsea have been leading the way e various gossip columns, although the rumoured signing of Moussa Dembele now looks extremely unlikely along with any deals for Schalke wing-back Sead Kolasinac, Torino forward Andrea Belotti and Inter Milan winger Jonathan Biabiany.

With a potential agreement for Celtic teammate Craig Gordon also floundering, all eyes will be on the teamsheet at Anfield to see if the list of visiting substitutes includes one Asmir Begovic. Conte made it repeatedly clear that the Bosnian international, subject of bids from Bournemouth, would only be allowed to leave the club if a suitable replacement could be found.

Branislav Ivanovic will definitely be absent tonight after flying to Zenit Saint Petersburg's Spanish training camp in order to complete his free transfer to the Russian giants. Saturday's substitute outing against west London rivals Brentford, in which he both scored and won a penalty, looks almost certainly to have been the last game of the Serbian defender's nine-year, trophy-laden stint with the Blues.

One of the key reasons for Liverpool's lack of scoring prowess over recent weeks has been the absence of unpredictable forward Sadio Mane. The 24-year-old is now back from Gabon after missing the crucial penalty in Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final defeat to Cameroon and Klopp said he would need to "look in his eyes" to determine his availability for tonight.

It was a strange situation in the Senegal game against Cameroon and I wish not for one second he missed the penalty at the end but it happened so he is coming back. The club did an outstanding job to bring him back as soon as possible and he is now on his way. We thought it would be possible yesterday: we had a plane there but he was not allowed to go in the plane so we had to wait.

I don't know exactly [when he will be available]. He will be here tonight but I spoke to him and it is all good so far. He will be in tomorrow morning and we have to make a decision. We have to look in his eyes and see whatever is possible.

Adam Lallana is also expected to return after recovering from a leg wound sustained against former club Southampton, but Nathaniel Clyne remains doubtful due to a rib/abdominal injury. Young midfielder Ovie Ejaria is also set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering a ruptured syndesmosis at the weekend.

As for Chelsea, Antonio Conte reported a clean bill of health before a final training session on Monday afternoon.

It's certainly fair to say that things have gone decidedly pear-shaped for Liverpool of late. Second in the Premier League and within six points of the summit after a narrow victory over Manchester City at Anfield on New Year's Eve, Jurgen Klopp's side have begun 2017 in woeful fashion with only one win to their name in eight matches across all competitions.

Already reeling from a shock defeat to Swansea City that dealt a major blow to their title hopes and denied a second consecutive EFL Cup final appearance by Southampton, the Reds, now fourth in the league, suffered a third home defeat in a week on Saturday after being unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup in the fourth round by Championship outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Tonight feels like a rather pivotal moment in Liverpool's season. Leaders Chelsea have recovered impressively after seeing their bid for a record 14th successive top-flight win halted by Tottenham Hotspur in early January, cruising to easy wins over Peterborough United, Leicester City, Hull City and Brentford.

They have won 15 of their last 16 matches all told and will be keen to retain an eight-point buffer over nearest rivals Arsenal ahead of Sunday's eagerly-anticipated showdown between the two teams at Stamford Bridge. The Gunners are also in action tonight against Watford, while third-place Spurs travel to relegation battlers Sunderland.