Liverpool killed off Chelsea’s bid for a hat-trick of Premier League titles with a solid 2-0 victory on Saturday.

Chelsea have now picked up only nine points out of a possible 18 in their last six league matches and their injury list is really hurting them. In this game, Paulo Ferreira and Michael Essien were used as the starting centre backs - and Ferreira was caught out by Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt in the fourth minute as the Dutchman used his strength to get past him and then volley home, leaving Petr Cech helpless.

With less than 20 minutes gone, Essien's lame attempt at a headed clearance only managed to find Jermaine Pennant, who slotted home a fantastic strike. Although Chelsea had more possession, they had less than half the number of shots on goal and committed almost twice as many fouls.

There are a few reasons why I think this game signalled that Chelsea cannot challenge for the Premiership any more. The first is that the level of talent in the starting 11 of the top group of teams is quite similar, which means the winner will come down largely to whoever has more confidence and fitness in the final run-in. Chelsea have neither, Manchester United have both.

The second reason is that Chelsea have never been an attacking team under coach Jose Mourinho. They have preferred to rely on a defence which during their two title-winning seasons conceded only 37 goals. With 14 matches to play this season, they have already conceded 19. At the same time, Chelsea's attack has suffered due to problems at the back and has scored an average of 1.71 goals per game this season compared to 1.89 goals a game in each of the last two campaigns

I do think that the back line is the main issue for Chelsea. The squad is very professional and if the team were getting results on the pitch I don't think the off-field stuff would really affect them. But as they aren't getting results, the off-field issues are really compounding the Blues' on-field problems - and no matter how quickly John Terry returns to the first team, I think Chelsea's trophy cupboard will remain bare this season.