Not the best of weeks for Liverpool Football Club, as for the first time ever under Brendan Rodgers, they fell to three successive defeats in all competitions. After a stuttering start to the season, those seven days were seen as a perfect opportunity to find some form and kickstart their season. Turns out, it wasn't. Newcastle United and Real Madrid both beat the Reds by a single goal away from home and they fell to another defeat on Saturday, losing 2-1 at home to Chelsea. Jose Mourinho's found themselves behind early, when Emre Can's long-range effort took a huge deflection off of Gary Cahill and wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois in the Anfield Road End goal. However, it was level within five minutes as Gary Cahill put the ball over the line following the home side's feeble attempt at zonal marking from a corner. Goal-line clearance came to the help of a Chelsea side still aggreived by that decision in the 2005 Champions League Semi Final at the Kop end. After half-time, Chelsea dominated and took advantage through the virtually unstoppable Diego Costa. The Spaniard powered home after a poor clearance, and in truth - the Reds never looked like changing the outcome of the game in the remaining 25 minutes. With that, pressure piles on top of Rodgers, who contentiously fielded a weakened line-up away at Madrid, looking towards this game. That plan seemed to have failed, and just about everything seems to have gone wrong with his side this season - but what did we learn from Liverpool's 1-2 loss to Chelsea at Anfield?

1. Rodgers (or the committee) got it right with Emre Can

So far, so bad - currently sums up most of the careers of the latest batch of summer signings for Liverpool. After losing Luis Suárez, Brendan Rodgers and the transfer committee spent vast amounts to replace him in all areas of the pitch. That money, for the most part, seems to have been wasted. Liverpool look a lot worse without Suárez, as expected, but the new signings have failed to ease the pain. Most have only shown glimpses, but one man who is beginning to look like a decent acquisition is German youth international Emre Can. Bought from Bayer Leverkusen for £10 million, Can used to ply his trade for Bayern Munich but truly blossomed at Bayer - playing in a number of different positions and becoming known for his impressive athleticism. At just 20-years-old, Can has plenty of promise already, having added the necessary steeliness to a weak midfield. He was one of the only players to keep their place from the starting line-up in the Spanish capital in mid-week, playing alongside Jordan Henderson and Steven Gerrard. Can was one of the best players in a red shirt from the start, bursting past Nemanja Matic within 30 seconds, and sending a deflected effort into the back of the net just eight minutes later. Industrious and robust, Can provided the muscle in the midfield, and provides a solid foundation for the post-Gerrard midfield. Defensively and offensively, he has plenty of ability - now it's up to him to make himself a regular in the Reds' waning midfield.

2. Kolo Toure should have started

Despite a 1-0 loss in mid-week, the Reds emerged from the cauldron that is the Bernabeu with a sense of pride. The side, admittedly very weak, kept it to a respectable one goal score-line and for much of the game, matched Madrid's effort. No-one did that more so than Kolo Toure. When he first arrived, the Ivorian earned a cult hero status for, well, being himself really. But that was quickly ruined by his cataclysmic errors, at West Brom and Fulham. Still, his performance against the reigning European champions restored that status, and rightly so. The experienced centre-back was commanding and resolute, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet and his performance more than merited a starting spot against Chelsea. Unfortunately for him, and Liverpool supporters, the defender who was a large part of perhaps the most solid defensive display so far this season, was dropped for the shaky Dejan Lovren. Without much surprise, the defending was once again shambolic. The Croatian has so far failed to justify his £20 million price tag. In fact, he looks worse than any of the other current defenders in the squad. Toure had to start, against a team that boasted some of the best attacking players in Europe, not just England. Lovren, in his place, lost his ball too many times, lost his marker too many times and made the wrong decision too many times. So far, Skrtel and Lovren is yet to work and though Skrtel and Toure showed signs of promise - it doesn't seem as though Rodgers will give that partnership a chance in the league any time soon. 

3. Mario Balotelli has to have a partner

Without a doubt, the man to come in for the most criticism so far this season has been Mario Balotelli. The £16-million "gamble" as described by his Northern Irish boss, has scored two goals but is yet to score a league goal in nine Premier League games. He's had plenty of opportunities, most notably against Hull City and Queens Park Rangers both from close-range, but has yet to capitalise. The criticism he has come in for as a result is slightly unwarranted to date. He's yet to show any glimpses of his best, despite all his hard work, but there's an underlying reason and again the fault lies at the feet of Rodgers. Balotelli has played one game with a partner, a 0-3 win away at Spurs, and despite switching to two men up-top late on in most games, Rodgers is yet to provide the Italian with a partner. It's a struggle to understand why not, as that is inevitably when he is best. Balotelli, alongside Fabio Borini in particular, looks much better and he has even admitted he prefers to have a strike partner. With Daniel Sturridge soon to return from injury, the hope is that Sturridge and Balotelli partner each other, but Rodgers may simply opt to swap Sturridge for Balotelli and bench the latter. If he does, Balotelli may never get to demonstrate the best of his abilities in a Liverpool shirt, before it's too late. 

4. Chelsea could run away with it

Stating the obvious, really - but if ever a game showed that Chelsea really are equipped to win the Premier League with ease, this was it. Last season, they came to the Anfield with the role of playing the villains. The team that were to deprive Liverpool of their title cravings. This time around, just six months later, they came to Merseyside knowing a win could further extend their grip on the league title. Just 11 games in, they have opened a 15 point lead over Liverpool, 14 point lead over Manchester United, 13 point lead over Arsenal and an eight point lead over last season's champions - Manchester City. Quite remarkably, Chelsea are already running away with the league. They have a star-studded side, with a manager who has plenty of experience of winning trophies. It's a wonderful mix, and they were too much for Liverpool, who though out-of-form, looked leagues below the quality of the Blues. Questions have been asked as to whether they can go unbeaten throughout the season, and though Mourinho branded such a feat "impossible", it's far from that. They look virtually impossible to beat, and they have very few and very minor weaknesses in their side. Chelsea are the team to beat, and they will be until May. 

5. Rodgers substitutions are too little, too late

Last season, Brendan Rodgers could do very little wrong. Every decision he made, worked to perfection. He created a system which saw his offensive side make the most of their talents in the final third, rather than pay for their lack of talents in their back-line. This season, he resembles more the Kenny Dalglish of 2011-12. The first 45 minutes, Liverpool put in a fairly decent performance, but as Chelsea grew in stature, the Reds diminished and wilted. Rather than anger or disappointment that Saturday afternoon ended in defeat once more, it was expected. The expectations have fell hugely in the space of a few months. When a while ago Liverpool were expected to beat just about anybody and everybody, now they do not - and much of the blame must fall on Rodgers. His decision-making has become increasingly questionable, and most notably, his substutions have become alarming. Even though the Liverpool starting 11 doesn't boast the talents of last season's second top scorer, they look a world away from the side they once were. They finished Saturday's game with Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini up-front. One, refused to be forced into a move to QPR on deadline day whilst the other was brought in merely as a back-up striker and nothing more. What's worse is that, Rodgers didn't use Lazar Markovic or Adam Lallana - both whom totalled £45 million's worth of spending over the summer. Lallana, didn't feature in any of the three games despite some promising performances early into his Liverpool career, and it's difficult to see why that is. Rodgers' decisions are becoming increasingly out of touch with reality. His words post-match indicate that of a man who is happy with his side, a side who are well under the standards of their previous season. They're still capable of the form from last season, but so far they have yet to consistently replicate it. To do so, Rodgers needs to ditch the stubbornness and make some important decisions, including Steven Gerrard's role in the team, Mario Balotelli's need for a strike partner and a shaky centre-back partnership.