CHELSEA upset Liverpool’s perfect start to the season in the Carabao Cup midweek — can they do it again when the teams face off again in a blockbuster Premier League clash this weekend?

The Cup clash wasn’t the most devastating way for Anfield to taste its first defeat of the season but how will it affect the game at Stamford Bridge early Sunday morning Australia time?

Both team fielded vastly changes sides and Liverpool had their chances to win it but those squandered opportunities left room for a moment of magic from Eden Hazard in a performance that will give the Blues plenty of confidence.

Not that they should be short of belief anyway. Chelsea have made a superb start to the season under new coach Maurizio Sarri, and only trail the Reds in the league by two points, after last week’s frustrating draw with West Ham. They have scored as manly goals as Klopp’s team and only conceded two more.

While there are doubts about some of Sarri’s decisions so far, it seems Klopp had the right idea when he reminded everyone that this Chelsea team is not vastly different to the one that one the title under Antonio Costa just two season ago. While they have lost the players that arguably mark them out as genuine title challengers — namely Nemanja Matic, Diego Costa and Thibault Courtois — many in the team know how to win.

And when you have a player like Hazard, anything is possible. Although he should have been stopped before being allowed into the area for the midweek matchwinner, you have to admire the close control and aggression with which he attacked Liverpool. Hazard at 25, is just entering his prime and has defied any suggestion of a World Cup hangover.

Sarri’s restructuring of Chelsea might even be the key to getting the best out of the Belgian. The former Napoli coach wants to bring some joy back to Stamford Bridge. His Serie A side was known for passing opponents to death, often working them around the park before attacking in clinical short-pass moves.

Their average of 676 short passes per game was second only to Manchester City (699) last season in Europe’s top five leagues and in Jorginho, Sarri has the metronomic presence his style requires. The Brazilian-Italian midfielder has already broken the Premier League record for the most amount of attempted passes in a single game since 2003-04, with 180 against West Ham.

The Italian has often pleaded for patience for his methods to work at his new club, suggesting that the first half of the season could be frustrating but the players don’t appear to be operating under any confusion.

Most interesting has been the redeployment of N’Golo Kante. The Frenchman is widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder in Europe — but Sarri has been playing Kante in a much more advanced role. Is this because he needs to make room for Jorginho to execute his style or does he see something else in Kante? The evidence so far suggests that, although willing, Kante is no box-to-box midfielder (he only scored once last season) and seems unlikely to add much to an already underwhelming Chelsea attack, Hazard aside.

Without Costa, Sarri is dependent on Alvaro Morata (11 goals last season) and Olivier Giroud (5, after his January switch from Arsenal) to support Hazard. Against West Ham, the front three of Hazard, Giroud and Willian struggled to make an impact, and this, if anything, could be the Blues’ undoing as the season progresses.

Despite its obvious quality, Hazard’s midweek winner came against Liverpool’s second string defence of Simon Mignolet in goal, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren as centrebacks, and Nathaniel Clyne and Alberto Moreno at fullback. Watch that goal again and notice how Moreno fails to close Hazard down while he’s under pressure from Naby Keita, and the problematic Spaniard is nutmegged as he runs across the Belgian.

This weekend, keep an eye on how first-choice Reds leftback Andy Robertson works Hazard, while Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and goalkeeper Alisson return to the defence.

And yet… In their two biggest games so far, against Arsenal and now Liverpool, Chelsea have summoned the desire and belief to claim late winners.

Sarri cautioned before the Cup game that Chelsea are a year behind Liverpool in terms of the passing and movement off the ball the coach wants his players to develop. But Wednesday’s game suggests that gap might not quite be so big. They pressed Klopp’s team high and matched their energy, something that doesn’t happen very often.

And that wake-up call for league-leaders Liverpool, should make Sunday’s battle at the Bridge one worth waking up for.