Jarell Quansah’s own-goal was sandwiched between goals from Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer, earning Chelsea a much-needed win in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Van Dijk’s 85th minute head made things a little tense for the home side but it wasn’t enough as Liverpool suffered just their third Premier League defeat of the season.
Speaking to the press after the game, the Dutchman admitted Chelsea deserved the win but dismissed any talk of complacency.
“I think possession was quite good, but when we didn’t have the ball the pressing wasn’t great and they could find between the lines.
“To concede that early is not great, but if we start to play the way we want to play then we can create chances. There was chances for us to score - in the end they deserve the win. That’s the disappointing thing as we came here to win.
“Obviously we tried, but it wasn’t great.
“The way we trained, the sharpness that we had, everyone was ready for it.”