Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers believed Chelsea's defensive tactics was the one that put his team in the hole in their 2-0 loss to the Blues last weekend.

"I like to take the initiative in games, try to dominate and let players express themselves. Our game is based on (being) offensive, being creative, as opposed to stopping," Rodgers said.

"It (Chelsea's approach) is a defensive style, the polar opposite to how we work, and hopefully over time our offensive mentality and aggression will get us long-term results," he added.

The Reds coach added that it was hard for his players to penetrate Chelsea's imposing defense, which is employed perfectly by Jose Mourinho.

"It's not difficult to coach to put 10 players right on your 18-yard box but it's much harder to try and break through it and they defended it well.

"We were the team that wanted to win the game. It was difficult because they played with a back six right from the off. "We found it difficult to break them down, but it wasn't nerves. It was just that final ball and maybe that bit of luck that we needed so we're obviously disappointed with the result."