Jose Mourinho’s future as Chelsea manager looked increasingly insecure after a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool yesterday, Philippe Coutinho scoring twice at Stamford Bridge as the champions lost a sixth Premier League game in 11.

Chelsea’s third home league reverse of the season left them in 15th place with 11 points from 11 games – the worst ever start to a season by the reigning champions.

They are already 14 points behind Manchester City who needed a last-gasp Yaya Toure penalty to beat Norwich 2-1 and retain top spot on goal difference from Arsenal who won 3-0 at Swansea.

Toure’s spot-kick spared the blushes of City keeper Joe Hart who fumbled a routine catch to gift Norwich a late equaliser.

All Arsenal’s goals came after the break as they made it five league wins in succession – Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell all on target.

Leicester City are up to third thanks to a 3-2 victory at West Brom where they trailed, with Jamie Vardy scoring for the eighth league match in a row.

Manchester United dropped to fourth after a 0-0 stalemate at Crystal Palace, their second successive goalless league draw.

Chelsea, labouring in the Champions League, out of the League Cup and as good as finished in the title race, are in freefall and Liverpool’s fans, celebrating a first league win for new manager Juergen Klopp, taunted Mourinho with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning”.

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin summed up the mood, saying: “The questions over Mourinho will be a cacophony now. It’s not just the defeat but the manner of it.

“They were outplayed.”

Triple Premier League winner Mourinho was tight-lipped afterwards, but asked if it could have been his last game in charge, he said: “No”.

The day had started so well for Chelsea. There were only four minutes on the clock when Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross was headed in by Ramires.

Coutinho strikes

If the home fans expected Chelsea to force home their advantage, though, they were disappointed as a hard-working Liverpool side recovered to dominate possession.

Coutinho equalised two minutes and 40 seconds into the indicated two minutes of first-half stoppage time, curling a precise shot past Chelsea keeper Asmir Begovic.

Liverpool midfielder Lucas was lucky to avoid a second yellow card midway through the second half for a foul on Ramires – a decision that infuriated Mourinho. To rub salt into the wounds, Liverpool went in front a few minutes later when Coutinho again beat Begovic with a shot that brushed off John Terry.

Christian Benteke made the points safe with a low shot seven minutes from time.

“What happened in the second half was a consequence of crucial moments, moments that the stadium saw, and more than just see it, the players felt it. From then what happened was just a consequence,” Mourinho told reporters.

Asked if he could turn around Chelsea’s unravelling season, he said cryptically: “If they allow us.”

Klopp was sympathetic. “I feel for him. He’s a great coach. I don’t think anyone in this room doubts he’s one of the best in the world. Things like this happen. I had a similar situation at (Borussia) Dortmund last year,” the German said.

Fifth-placed West Ham lost 2-0 at Watford, their first away loss of the season.

Results and standings

Premier League

Chelsea 1
Ramires 4;
Liverpool 3
Coutinho 45, 74; Benteke 83;

HT: 1-1. Att: 41,577.

C. Palace 0
Man. United 0

Att: 24,854.

Man. City 2
Otamendi 67; Toure 89 pen.;
Norwich 1
Jerome 83;

HT: 0-0. Att: 53,418.
Missed penalty: Kolarov (MC) 90.
Red card: Martin (N) 88.

Newcastle 0
Stoke City 0

Att: 47,139.

Swansea 0
Arsenal 3
Giroud 49; Koscielny 68; Campbell 73;

HT: 0-0. Att: 20,937.

Watford 2
Ighalo 39, 48;
West Ham 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 20,598.
Red card: Collins (WH) 84.

West Brom 2
Rondon 30; Lambert 84 pen.;
Leicester 3
Mahrez 57, 64; Vardy 77;

HT: 1-0. Att: 24,150.

Playing today
Everton vs Sunderland - 14.30
S’hampton vs Bournemouth - 17.00

Tomorrow
Tottenham vs Aston Villa - 21.00

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Man. City	11	8	1	2	26	9	25
Arsenal	11	8	1	2	21	8	25
Leicester	11	6	4	1	23	19	22
Man. United	11	6	3	2	15	8	21
West Ham	11	6	2	3	22	15	20
Tottenham	10	4	5	1	16	8	17
Liverpool	11	4	5	2	12	12	17
C. Palace	11	5	1	5	12	11	16
Watford	11	4	4	3	10	10	16
S’hampton	10	3	5	2	16	13	14
West Brom	11	4	2	5	10	14	14
Everton	10	3	4	3	13	13	13
Swansea	11	3	4	4	12	15	13
Stoke City	11	3	4	4	9	12	13
Chelsea	11	3	2	6	16	22	11
Norwich City	11	2	3	6	15	23	9
B’nemouth	10	2	2	6	12	22	8
Newcastle	11	1	4	6	12	22	7
Sunderland	10	1	3	6	11	19	6
Aston Villa	10	1	1	8	9	17	4

Leading scorers
11 goals: Vardy (Leicester City).
7 goals: Mahrez (Leicester City), Ighalo (Watford).
6 goals: Aguero (Man. City)Sanchez (Arsenal), Wijnaldum (Newcastle), Giroud (Arsenal).

Next fixtures

Saturday: 13.45 Bournemouth vs Newcastle. 16.00 Leicester vs Watford; Manchester United vs West Brom; Norwich vs Swansea; Sunderland vs Southampton; West Ham vs Everton. 18.30 Stoke vs Chelsea.

Sunday: 14.30 Aston Villa vs Manchester City. 17.00 Arsenal vs Tottenham; Liverpool vs Crystal Palace.

• Sean Dyche celebrated three years in charge of Burnley with a 2-1 home victory over Huddersfield as striker Andre Gray took his tally for the season to eight. The Clarets are aiming for their second promotion out of the division under Dyche, who was appointed on October 30 in 2012, and they maintained their spot in third thanks to the in-form Gray. Burnley’s record signing converted a first-half spot-kick and found the net again before the interval to give Dyche’s side their fourth win in five. The Clarets remain behind second-placed Hull on goal difference, and the pair closed the gap on leaders Brighton to two points after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Reading.

The Championship
Birmingham-Wolves - 0-2
Bristol City-Fulham - 1-4
Burnley-Huddersfield - 2-1
Derby County-Rotherham - 3-0
Ipswich-Cardiff - 0-0
M’boro-Charlton - 3-0
MK Dons-Hull - 0-2
Preston NE-Bolton - 0-0
Reading-Brighton - 1-1
Sheffield Wed.-Nottm Forest - 1-0

Standings: Brighton 30; Hull, Burnley 28; M’boro, Derby 27; Birmingham 24; Reading, Sheffield Wed. 23; Cardiff City 22; Fulham, Brentford 20; QPR 19; Wolves, Ipswich 18; Blackburn 15; Huddersfield, Nottm Forest 14; Leeds, Preston 13; MK Dons, Bristol C. 11; Charlton, Bolton 10; Rotherham 9.

League One
Bury-Blackpool - 4-3
Coventry-Peterborough - 3-2
Crewe-Sheffield Utd - 1-0
Doncaster-Colchester - 2-0
Fleetwood-Chesterfield - 0-1
Millwall-Bradford - 0-0
Oldham-Burton Albion - 0-1
Port Vale-Shrewsbury - 2-0
Scunthorpe-Barnsley - 2-0
Southend-Rochdale - 2-2
Walsall-Gillingham - 3-2
Wigan-Swindon - 1-0

Standings: Walsall, Burton Albion 32; Gillingham 31; Coventry City 28; Wigan, Bury 27; Millwall 25; Sheffield United 24; Scunthorpe, Chesterfield, Southend 23; Peterborough, Roch-dale, Bradford 21; Port Vale, Colchester 20; Shrewsbury, Doncaster 17; Oldham, Blackpool 16; Fleetwood 15; Barnsley 14; Swindon, Crewe 13.

League Two
Barnet-Exeter - 2-0
Carlisle-Yeovil - 3-2
Crawley-York City - 1-0
Leyton Orient-Accrington - 0-1
Mansfield-Wycombe - 0-2
Newport-Northampton - 2-2
Notts County-Portsmouth - 2-1
Plymouth-Morecambe - 2-0
Stevenage-Oxford - 1-5
Wimbledon-Hartlepool - 2-0

Playing today
Dagenham-Luton - 15.00

Standings: Plymouth 35; Oxford United 30; Portsmouth, Accrington Stanley, Northampton 28; Mansfield, Leyton Orient, Carlisle 26; Wycombe, Wimbledon 25; Morecambe, Bristol Rovers 23; Exeter City, Notts County 22; Crawley 21; Barnet, Cambridge 20; Luton 19; Hartlepool 17; Stevenage 14; Newport 13; York 12; Dagenham, Yeovil Town 9.