So, that is Liverpool and Manchester City beaten at home, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal equalled away. And Jose Mourinho is not on course for the title in his first year back in England, why exactly?

Oh yes, the practical option remains Manchester City, the romantics favour Arsenal and the true dreamers think Everton may even have an outside chance, but nestling in the heart of that top four are Chelsea and here they made their most emphatic statement of the season.

The 40 minutes that followed Liverpool’s jolt of an opening goal here is arguably the best football Chelsea have played since Mourinho’s return and if Roman Abramovich can supplement what is already an impressively deep squad in the transfer window, who knows what the second half of the campaign will bring.

The popular wisdom is that only Manchester United’s squad know how to win a title over the long haul, but Chelsea have a fair few seasoned campaigners, too, and against Liverpool many of them turned in exactly the level of performance that will be required to kick on towards May.

John Terry was immense in defence on his 600th appearance for the club, so too his partner Gary Cahill. Ashley Cole, out of favour lately, was introduced after 30 minutes in place of the injured Branislav Ivanovic and was as reliable as the day he first stepped out as a Chelsea player.

Cesar Azpilicueta switched full-back positions, and coped superbly; Petr Cech was equally unflappable.

Yet it would give the wrong impression to suggest this was a victory based on stoic resistance. Chelsea won the game in the first-half when, rocked by a Martin Skrtel goal after three minutes, they regrouped to play Liverpool off the park until half-time.

It was not that Brendan Rodgers’ team were poor, more that Chelsea rose mightily to the occasion. Eden Hazard, in particular, was exceptional, as good as he has been in a blue shirt in recent memory. Willian and Oscar were a wonderful supporting cast.

Together this trio overwhelmed Liverpool in the high forward areas, with Lucas left surprisingly lonely and struggling to cope. Chelsea’s two goals were thoroughly deserved and could have been supplemented by two more. Liverpool came back in the second-half, but Mourinho’s teams know nothing if not how to hold a lead and while there were some close shaves, Chelsea were not flattered by the award of three points.

It brought the best out of Chelsea that they went behind so early. Samuel Eto’o hit Jordan Henderson at knee height and was lucky not to receive so much as a yellow card, but justice was done once Philippe Coutinho whipped his free-kick into the box. Ivanovic made a hash of dealing with Luis

Suarez and only half stopped the ball, which fell to Skrtel with Cech already committed. Chelsea trailed from the first attack of the game. The response was instant. A free-kick from Frank Lampard was headed just wide by Cahill, Hazard had a decent penalty shout after being bundled over by Lucas and Lampard had a shot from the edge of the area tipped round by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. After 18 minutes, however, Chelsea were level.

It was a move built around that nimble counter-attacking midfield three. Willian found Oscar who drove forward before being tackled, the loose ball falling to Hazard. His instinctive reaction was stunning: a curling, first-time shot which eluded Mignolet and nestled perfectly in the corner of the net; 16 minutes later, Chelsea took the lead.

David Luiz curled a sweet pass wide to Azpilicueta whose cross found Oscar. Skrtel made an error dealing with the danger and the ball fell to Eto’o who prodded it in. The striker is hardly a Stamford Bridge favourite, but his influence was vital. Not just the goal but another tough shift on his own against a robust back line. When he was replaced by Fernando Torres with four minutes remaining, Eto’o finally received the respect his diligence deserved.

Despite Chelsea’s defensive strengths, though, Liverpool were never out of this. It took a tremendously timed tackle from Cahill to ward off Allen in a good position in the first-half, and Cech had to be at his best to keep out the same player after Cole had only half-blocked a cross from Raheem Sterling.

The visitors had the better of the second-half which was to be expected chasing the game, although they never got closer than in the 52nd minute, when a Mamadou Sakho header from Henderson’s chip struck the bar.

The rest was tame by comparison: a Suarez shot easily saved and another from Glen Johnson that proved more of a test. At the other end, Hazard put Eto’o through one on one and he really should have done more with a finish blasted directly at Mignolet.

Torres cut inside from the right late on, but his attempt was ordinary, and his cameo role will be remembered more for the hamstring injury it inflicted on Sakho giving chase. The demands of this time of year will do that, sadly. The greatest controversy in the second half came from two penalty claims by Suarez. Mourinho was contemptuous but both had virtue, and the second in particular should have been given.

Terry stopped the striker jumping for a high ball in the 64th minute, waved away by Howard Webb, and then with seven minutes remaining, Azpiliciueta won the ball from the Uruguayan fairly, only for Eto’o to prevent him giving chase with blatant obstruction, bordering on a trip.

It would appear Suarez is still paying the price for all those times he went to ground too easily — the same happened to Gareth Bale, and before him Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba — and some will find that amusing, but it will be no laughing matter if one day a player whose talent is a gift to the Premier League tires of his weekly battering and departs.

By the end, it was a familiar scene. Chelsea repelling all intruders, Liverpool’s travelling fans reduced to singing that song about history. It always sounds so defeatist, so rooted in the past.

Chelsea do have history, of course: three titles since Liverpool’s last one, four FA Cups since Liverpool previously lifted the trophy, not forgetting that Champions League, the first won by a London club and arriving more recently than Liverpool’s triumph in 2005.

This is meant to be the season when that run changes but as 2013 draws to a close, the league table shows Liverpool outside the top four again, behind even Everton. The margins are small and the club is without doubt going forward swiftly under Rodgers, but it is Chelsea and Mourinho who are more familiar with the course and distance from here. Students of history know that on such occasions, the formbook tends to favour the master, more than the apprentice.

—Daily Mail