Chelsea started brightly and carved out their first chance in the opening minute as Alyssa Thompson broke down the left. The ball eventually found its way to Erin Cuthbert, who dragged her effort harmlessly side.
Liverpool responded well and it took some quick thinking from goalkeeper Livia Peng - playing due to an injury suffered by Hannah Hampton - to deny Beata Olsson a chance after Mille Bright had played a sloppy pass. The Blues, though, were ahead in the ninth minute as Thompson expertly tucked past Faye Kirby from the left having beaten the offside trip.
Chelsea dominated possession, but it was Liverpool who netted the equaliser with a little over 10 minutes of the half remaining as the Reds sprung a rapid counter. Nathalie Bjorn failed to completely cut out a Lily Woodham pass for Olsson, who made no mistake one-on-one with Peng.
Catarina Macario should have put Chelsea back in front but fluffed her lines from close range shortly before the break as the champions looked to make their dominance count. Sonia Bompastor then looked to change things up for the Blues at the break and took off Bright and Macario for the second half as the west London side pushed to go ahead in the second half.
Thompson fired an effort over, while the American winger then sought to turn provider for Cuthbert, but the midfielder's effort was blocked. Substitute Aggie Beever-Jones then missed a decent chance to put Chelsea back in front as they failed to break down the Reds wall.
GOAL rates Chelsea's players from the Totally Wicked Stadium...
