Liverpool visit fellow title contenders Chelsea on Sunday and will take confidence from an impressive recent record at Stamford Bridge.

The Merseyside outfit have lost just once in their last six Premier League visits, winning on three of those occasions.

But Jose Mourinho has never suffered a league defeat on home turf as Chelsea manager, underlining the size of the task facing the away side.
Brendan Rodgers’ charges head into the fixture on the back of a 2-1 defeat at Manchester City.

Raheem Sterling had a goal ruled out despite seemingly being in an onside position, but Liverpool took the lead through Philippe Coutinho, only for Vincent Kompany and Alvaro Negredo to put City ahead before half time.

Liverpool dominated large parts of the second half but were unable to find a breakthrough, and Rodgers was further irked by the referee’s failure to give a penalty against Joleon Lescott following what appeared to be a foul on Luis Suarez.

This weekend’s fixture marks the first time the two sides have met since the incident involving Suarez, who received a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.

The scores finished 2-2 on that occasion at Anfield in April, with Suarez scoring a last-minute equaliser, and the Uruguayan – who tops this season’s scoring charts with 19 goals – is sure to be met by a hostile Stamford Bridge crowd.

Liverpool make the trip with several of their squad still missing through injury, including captain Steven Gerrard (hamstring) and striker Daniel Sturridge (ankle).

Defensive trio Jon Flanagan (hamstring), Jose Enrique and Sebastian Coates (both knee) are also out, while winger Victor Moses is unavailable due to the conditions of his loan move from Chelsea.

Chelsea lie third in the Premier League, one place and one point above Liverpool, and are searching for a fourth straight home league victory following a 1-0 triumph over Swansea City on Boxing Day.

Eden Hazard notched the only goal of the game in the first half, and Mourinho will be looking for his side to lay down a marker in their final game of 2013.

He heads into the fixture without Ramires, who is suspended after he picked up his fifth booking of the season against Swansea, with Frank Lampard likely to take his spot.

The Liverpool boss branded the level of officiating “horrendous” after Thursday’s defeat to Manchester City and questioned the selection of a Greater Manchester referee

Brendan Rodgers has stood by his comments about referee Lee Mason following Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman labelled the performance of the match officials as “horrendous” during his side’s Boxing Day reverse, feeling particularly aggrieved by the decision to disallow a goal from winger Raheem Sterling with the score still at 0-0.

His words are set to be investigated by the Football Association, but Rodgers insists he was telling it as he saw it and would not be taking back the comments.

“I’m not one that is berating referees after games, I’m always respectful and I ask my staff to be respectful, on the pitch we’re never chasing fourth officials or anything on a match day,” he said.

“I’ve had a number of referees in here to help and support what they do.

“I think they know that when I come out and make a statement like I did, it was obviously emotional after the game of course, but it was something that I will speak honestly on. As I said, whatever action they will take, they will decide.

“I have to speak on behalf of the supporters of the club, a club that has an emotional investment for many many of millions of people throughout the world.”

In a particularly controversial excerpt, Rodgers questioned the appointment of Mason to referee the Premier League encounter as he is from nearby Bolton.

“In terms of geography, it wasn’t the case at all, I certainly wasn’t questioning the integrity of the referees,” he added.

“As I said before, I fully understand the job, it was more the logic of it, in terms of having a referee from that particular part of the world refereeing a game in Manchester, I wouldn’t suspect that Mike Dean from the Wirral has refereed many games for Liverpool over the years.”

The Liverpool boss criticised the performance of the officials in the Reds’ 2-1 loss at Manchester City on Wednesday, citing the place of birth of the referee as a key concern

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is being investigated over comments made about referee Lee Mason, the Football Association have confirmed.

The Northern Irishman labelled the performance of the match officials as “horrendous” as his charges fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Manchester City on Thursday.

Rodgers’ was particularly disappointed with the decision to disallow a goal from winger Raheem Sterling with the score still at 0-0, with replays showing the England international was in an onside position.

The 40-year-old also felt Luis Suarez should have had a penalty in the closing stages after tangling with Joleon Lescott.

Speaking after the game, Rodgers questioned the appointment of Mason who was born in Bolton, saying: “Hopefully we won’t have a Greater Manchester referee with Liverpool-Manchester games in future.”

The governing body must now decide whether Rodgers’ comments “question the referee’s integrity or imply bias”.

Liverpool dropped to third in the Premier League as a result of the setback at the Etihad Stadium and face a difficult trip to Chelsea on Sunday.