The England football champions and Premier League leaders Chelsea suffered their second defeat of the season after Fernando Torres scored twice to guide resurgent Liverpool to a deserved 2-0 victory at Anfield.
The Spaniard, with two well-taken goals in the first half, inspired Liverpool to their best performance of the season and their third successive league win.
Meanwhile Arsenal failed to take advantage of the leaders' slip as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Newcastle United.
Manchester City gained ground with a 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion.
Chelsea are still on top with 25 points, two ahead of Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City have 20, and Newcastle are up to fifth on 17 points.
Liverpool have jumped to 9th from the bottom three a week ago.
