Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has warned his team that they risk a repeat of their 4-1 loss to Liverpool in the EFL Cup final unless they “raise their level.” Pochettino claims Liverpool were “better than us in all areas” following the loss.

Mauricio Pochettino offered a grim assessment of his side’s performance after they were summarily defeated by Liverpool on Wednesday. Just days after Jurgen Klopp announced that this season would be the last of his nine-year stint on Merseyside, Chelsea travelled to Anfield as the Reds looked to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.

Though still without talisman Mohamed Salah, the hosts wasted no time demonstrating the gulf in quality between the two teams with Diogo Jota giving them the lead after 23 minutes. In just his second Premier League start, academy graduate Conor Bradley piled on the misery for the visitors, by scoring Liverpool’s second and registering two assists. In the second half Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz increased the lead, with Christopher Nkunku registering a goal for the visitors. Following the result the Chelsea boss admitted his side had came up second best in all areas of the pitch. ‘The performance wasn’t good from us.’ Pochettino said. ‘If we want to match them we have to compete in a different way. They were more aggressive than us.

 

They were better than us in all areas.’ Later this month the former Spurs boss has the opportunity to win his first silverware in English football after leading the Blues to the Carabao Cup final. To do so, they will need to once again take on Klopp’s rampaging side, and the Argentine warned that they will need to find another gear if they are to emerge victorious.

‘Of course it is going to be different at Wembley.’ He continued. ‘The feeling the players have now is good because they know if they repeat this performance it will be the same result. ‘We need to improve and we need to push ourselves a little bit more. We have to learn. If we want to compete with Liverpool, one of the best teams in England for many years, we have to raise our level.’ Defeat at Anfield marked Chelsea’s ninth of the season in the Premier League, with the club now 12 points outside of the European places. Pochettino’s side will look to regain some momentum when they play host to Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.