Chelsea have come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Liverpool in a opening-round clash that showed the Blues have already made progress under new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
In the marquee matchup of the Premier League’s first round, Luis Diaz put Liverpool ahead in the 18th minute and defender Axel Disasi marked his Chelsea debut by equalising in the 37th.
"It was difficult from the beginning but how we grew in the game and how we found the way to play and how we started to dominate and push Liverpool deeper and deeper, I am very pleased about everything," Pochettino said after his return to management, having sat out a year after being fired by Paris Saint-Germain.
Earlier on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham began life without Harry Kane with an entertaining 2-2 draw at Brentford.
At Stamford Bridge, both teams had goals disallowed by VAR checks in an open and chance-filled first half that highlighted just why the two rivals are trying to spend more than 110 million pounds ($A215 million) on bringing in defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton.
Caicedo has reportedly chosen blue over red, which could prove a more important result than the draw as it was evident that both sides need a ball-winning midfielder of the Ecuadorian’s calibre.
Liverpool’s new-look engine room with summer signings Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai struggled to control the game, showing that Juergen Klopp’s team might miss the experience of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
"Our defensive problems today had nothing to do with characteristics of the midfielders, they are a bit more offensive but all of these boys can do what we want them to do," Klopp said.
"It’s really OK, today didn’t decide where our season will go. Let’s be positive."
Chelsea always looked vulnerable to counterattacks, though, and Mohamed Salah had already hit the crossbar by the time Liverpool took the lead.
Salah burst forward and squared the ball for Diaz to slide in and sidefoot home past new Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Salah thought he had doubled the lead with a clinical finish in the 29th, but replays showed he was just offside.
Instead, Chelsea drew level through an unlikely source. After Liverpool had cleared the ball twice following a corner, it was headed straight back into the area by Ben Chilwell, where Disasi was left alone to poke the ball past Alisson Becker.
Chelsea then thought they had taken the lead just minutes later, but this time it was Chilwell who was narrowly ruled offside.
Liverpool substitute Darwin Nunez came the closest to a late winner, when his long-range strike in added time was deflected narrowly wide for a corner.
All four goals at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium came in an action-filled first half that gave a first indication of what Tottenham will look like under former Socceroos boss Postecoglou, and without their talismanic striker.
A day after Kane sealed his move to Bayern Munich, Spurs dominated possession and scored from their only two efforts on target in the first half, yet still had to come from behind after twice being undone defensively.
And while they couldn't find a winner, a draw at Brentford could be seen as a positive first step given that Thomas Frank's team beat Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool at home last season.
"I think that was the important thing for us," Postecoglou said about coping without Kane.
"We showed a real resilience that we’re going to need because it’s going to be a challenging year for sure."