The combined cost of the six starting midfielders on either side at Anfield was PS310.5m (EUR370m). Jones cost nothing - the academy graduate too often taken for granted by those seduced by exotic names with huge valuations.

With each pass Jones located a team-mate who cost a small fortune, while most of his duels were with an opponent who Liverpool tried to sign to take his position for double those fees, Chelsea's Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia in tandem as the Anfield midfield pair that might have been.

Perhaps Jones felt he had even more of a point to prove as he eclipsed so many of those in both sides who were once considered an upgrade. Most likely he considers that to be the case each time he is selected and questions are asked if those names considered more stellar are being injured or rested. If Alexis Mac Allister had not returned from international duty feeling unwell and in need of a break, it is more likely Jones would have been a deputy again. Instead, he made this his show, decisive in winning Mohamed Salah's first-half penalty which enabled Liverpool to resist the first of Chelsea's many pressure surges, and cleverly claiming the winner just as Enzo Maresca contemplated the possibility of Nicolas Jackson's equaliser laying the foundation for victory.

Just as significant was Jones's role in nullifying Palmer's threat. The Chelsea man had his chances but Jones's first-half block to deny a goal-bound strike was symptomatic of a Liverpool victory that was more about a courageous rearguard action than total football.

The first FA scout reports dispatched to Thomas Tuchel will conclude selecting Palmer is a no-brainer, but the new England manager will have the luxury of several up-and-coming midfielders.

"Curtis had a difficult job to control Cole Palmer - an incredible player," Slot enthused. "He is so difficult to defend because he has so many qualities, but he controlled him for nearly all the game. Quite close to 90 minutes.

"Then he is involved in the goal and two penalties. He had a big impact on both sides of the game."

Chelsea were good and their manager was right to have mixed emotions - content with the performance and deflated at the result.

They have enough about them to suggest in time they will be back where they have been accustomed for most of the last 20 years. For prolonged stretches they dominated possession and reduced Liverpool to counter-attacking.

The greatest compliment is there were moments in this meeting which took the spectator back to 2005, when the mentally-tough, tactically-sound and defensively-resolute Liverpool of Rafa Benitez were able to repel the Chelsea of Jose Mourinho as they maintained incessant pressure.

Reece James's comeback was extraordinarily accomplished given he had not played since April - it was with regret Maresca could not risk him more than an hour. Caicedo is a one-man battering ram, and Lavia's comeback also promises to finally deliver on that fee.

Even Slot hinted that Chelsea were entitled to feel they deserved more, Maresca's reputation enhanced despite defeat as the claim neither side has had a challenge so far this season can now be dismissed.

The margins were small.

It was not always the highest technical quality - the ability to control the ball was akin to walking a tightrope in a gale-force wind - but the intensity level never dropped.

There was enough class on display to hint at this becoming the first in the series of a new era of epics between these clubs.

Only the interventions of the officials threatened to cast a shadow over the players' endeavours.

Football is fighting a losing battle trying to prevent VAR being a game's biggest talking point. Liverpool were thanking the video review system when referee John Brooks adjudged Jones was fouled by Levi Colwill for the 26th-minute penalty - no intervention altering the decision.

Liverpool were cursing the same officials when Brooks was summoned to reverse an on-field call that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez steamrolled through the same midfielder in first-half injury time.

Depending on your club colours, different camera angles were as damning as each for the for and against argument.

Then Chelsea were celebrating VAR again four minutes after half-time when Jackson slammed past Caoimhin Kelleher to equalise, initially flagged offside but ruled on upon review.

Liverpool's instant response was enough, Jones collecting Salah's pass before nudging beyond the advancing Sanchez.

It was all about the hosts' resilience from there. Howls of derision from the Kop when the assistant referee revealed seven minutes of injury-time served as another compliment to the visitors. Liverpool were not quite clinging on, but the next goal looked most likely to be Chelsea's. The Kop's celebrations hailed a significant scalp.

Jones had been subbed by then, a combination of the exhaustion from his endeavours leading his side's charge to victory and the joys of becoming a father - he was released from England duty early for the briefest paternity leave for his newborn daughter, Giselle.

"It's the best thing ever, it's a different type of joy," he said. "I was in the spare room but she's a little dream."

Jones may have occasionally felt like he was in the spare room when it came to midfield picks at Anfield over the past three years, too. Under Slot - and perhaps Tuchel - he is a contender to move from the fringe to centre stage.