After a week of battling to land the signing of Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo for a Premier League record transfer fee, both Chelsea and Liverpool's need for the Ecuadorian was exposed in an explosive encounter.
Liverpool's bright start was rewarded when Luis Diaz prodded home the opening goal, but debutant Axel Disasi earned Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino a point on his first game in charge.
Liverpool settled the better and Mohamed Salah was inches away from opening the scoring when he rattled the crossbar on 12 minutes. Salah was involved when the Reds did take the lead six minutes later with a brilliant cross that Diaz prodded home at the back post.
The Egyptian's record of scoring on the opening weekend every year of his Liverpool career came to an end, but only due to a VAR review that ruled out a slick finish that would have made it 2-0.