AcademyLayton Stewart on the mark but Liverpool U21s beaten at Chelsea

Layton Stewart had opened the scoring for the young Reds but a few defensive lapses allowed the home side to come back and win.

The Scouse forward, who had netted from the bench in his previous two appearances, was handed a starting berth and fired in his 10th goal of the season to give Barry Lewtas' charges the lead after 11 minutes.

Ivory Coast international David Fofana levelled for Chelsea, before they went ahead two minutes before the break with an effort from Mason Burstow.

Despite having several opportunities, Liverpool were unable to find an equaliser, and in the fourth minute of stoppage time Ben Elliott put the game beyond doubt by making it 3-1.

Reflecting on the outing, Lewtas told Liverpoolfc.com: "It was a good game, two good teams and, in the end, a few small mistakes from us cost us the goals.

"We created some good opportunities but just couldn't score and then they caught us on the break in stoppage time.

"When you've got two good teams coming up against each other, these small margins can make the difference, and that's where we were just edged out today."

Liverpool U21s: Pitaluga, Stephenson, Beck, Williams, Koumetio, Corness, Doak, Norris (Miles, 65), Stewart (Musialowski, 65), Clark (Frauendorf, 65), Woltman (Olufunwa, 88).

Unused substitute: Kelly.