AVB: Roman won't sack me

Chelsea are 12 points behind leaders Manchester City as a result of the loss, in which goals from Liverpool's Maxi Rodriguez and Glen Johnson rendered Daniel Sturridge's strike for the hosts irrelevant.

But despite trailing so badly in the title race, Villas-Boas insists his job is safe.

"The owner didn't pay 15 million euros to get me out of Porto to pay me another fortune to get out," he said.

"It's not a question of the owner having patience. We have set out to build something new at this club and the club is committed to taking what we're building to the future.

"Our commitment is towards the club and what we are doing in the future. We have enough talent to compete in all competitions, and that's the perspective we take at the moment."

The Portuguese coach conceded that the loss to Liverpool was a painful one, however: "It would have been a very important win on a weekend where most of the top teams won. It's a bad blow for us in the Premiership. It's a big blow.

"We have a home game with Wolves next, before Newcastle and then the leaders and we have to try and win those games, as difficult as they are.

"There are lots of points on offer in November and December. The calendar gets tight and maybe we can get some extra points. But this is one step closer to an even more difficult situation."

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, meanwhile, was delighted by his side's persistence to win at Stamford Bridge and heaped praise on his players after the match.

"To their credit, they kept going and at that stage, to have your right full-back up there is of great credit to the players," he said.

"I don`t think Chelsea had a chance at the end. I thought we played really well in the first half, and I don`t know if anyone would have objections to us taking three points.

"It was a good day for us."