Rodgers pleas for cash as Suarez rescues Reds

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 1

Suarez, who headed home in the 73rd minute to make it six goals in his last six league games, even managed to overshadow John Terry — his perennial rival for back and front page headlines — after Terry scored the opener and then suffered a potentially serious knee injury that saw him carried off on a stretcher before half-time during a match that confirmed Liverpool’s reputation as Chelsea’s bogey team.

The result does little for Chelsea’s title hopes and, ultimately, not much more for Liverpool’s hopes of challenging for the top six — they are currently languishing in 13th place.

But it does give manager Rodgers breathing space as he bids to transform a side that has under-achieved for so long and seems to be going through an extended period of transition.

It took one of the old guard — Jamie Carragher — to get Liverpool through this latest test; coming in for the ill Martin Skrtel and producing an outstanding defensive display that also included a wonderful flick-on for Suarez’s crucial strike. But there is no doubting Suarez — who has scored eight of Liverpool’s 14 goals this year and added two assists — is the man carrying them through that period; and no doubting what it would take to move Liverpool up the table.

“We need one or two more players, it’s as simple as that,” said Rodgers. “That’s our sixth draw. A lot of those games we’ve come back into after going behind. We’re normally dominating games with the ball. But we need materials. If we can get one or two in January, we’ll turn draws into wins.

“Those players don’t come cheap, and they’re not many available in January either. But the owners have given me great support since I’ve been here. I knew it would be a difficult year given the expectancy in Liverpool. The players are giving us everything. Hopefully we can add to the group in the next two windows, and next season we’ll be better for it. We finished eighth last year. If we can improve on that, it’ll be fantastic. That’s the reality of where Liverpool are I’m afraid.”

Liverpool at least showed some promise at Stamford Bridge; and despite a slow start they had two chances late on to win the game, with Suarez denied a second by Petr Cech and the excellent Jose Enrique also kept off the scoresheet by Cech in injury time.

That would have been hard on Chelsea; but then they went into this game knowing Liverpool had lost only two of their 11 previous clashes.

Many of those victories owed much to a formation started by Rafa Benitez that successfully stifled successive Chelsea teams from Jose Mourinho onwards. But current manager Rodgers, more famed for his attacking style, instead arrived with a novel 3-4-1-2 formation that sought to pack midfield to provide support to Suarez.

No plan, however, can survive the kind of amateur defending that saw Chelsea take the lead after 20 minutes, when an unmarked Terry headed home Mata’s corner. Chelsea should have doubled their lead — Torres shot straight at Brad Jones, then Mata inexplicably fired over when Hazard was completely unmarked alongside him.

Then of course the game’s defining moment came when Terry fell to the floor under an awkward challenge from Suarez and was carried off in agony; a sight that could prove hugely costly to the club’s title hopes.

It was also Liverpool’s cue to find a way back into the match, especially when Rodgers — who cut his teeth in coaching as youth team manager at the Bridge, of course — brought on substitute Suso to give his side a greater cutting edge and reverted to Benitez’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

The result was a 73rd minute equaliser when Suso’s corner was superbly flicked on by a stooping Carragher and headed home from close range by talisman Suarez.

As for Chelsea, they now face the possibility of another miserable November — the month that has cost them so dearly in three of the last four seasons — although manager Roberto Di Matteo refuses to contemplate it.

“We’re in much better shape than in previous years,” he insisted. “If we had won today it would have been great for us. We’re still in the mix. I think we’re still in a good momentum.”

Maybe; but in reality Di Matteo should be following Rodgers’ lead by calling for funds in January. Like the Liverpool manager he has only one real striker available — the man sold by the Reds for £50m and replaced by Suarez, Fernando Torres. On current form it’s not difficult to suggest which was the better deal. But neither can do it on their own for an entire season.

CHELSEA: Cech 6, Azpilicueta 6, Terry 6 (Cahill 38; 6), Ivanovic 6, Bertrand 6, Mikel 6, Ramires 6, Hazard 7, Oscar 7 (Moses 77), Mata 8, Torres 7 (Sturridge 82).

LIVERPOOL: Jones 6, Wisdom 6, Carragher 8, Agger 6, Johnson 7, Allen 6, Gerrard 7, Sterling 7, Sahin 7 (Suso 60), Jose Enrique 8, Suarez 7.

Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).