One quick way to be laughed at is to praise a team who have slipped into the league’s bottom half, conceded 13 times in six games and are yet to win at home. But Chelsea shredded the normal rules by delighting their fans with a home defeat to Liverpool.

Their fightback after going 2-0 down was rousing and brimming with enterprise. It featured a showreel goal by N’Golo Kante and unstinting commitment from each of the 14 players Frank Lampard used - young and old. It had Liverpool fearing their run of 14 consecutive league wins was in jeopardy and made several of Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League winning stalwarts look shaky.

Before Chelsea’s supporters could roar their approval for the rearguard action, though, the performance showed why they are 11th in the table and leaking more than two goals per game. Their defensive flaws, if left unchecked, will undo the culture shift.

Under Lampard, the vast talent emporium of the club’s academy is actually being put to use for the good of the senior team, with radical consequences for the mood around Stamford Bridge. Yet some of the stats are ominous. Thirteen goals-against is Chelsea’s biggest leak at the start of a season since 1978-79. Not since 2014 have they lost consecutive home games in all competitions. The side’s faith, though, is unaffected. Mason Mount played through the pain barrier with unceasing industry and Kante seized the role of team elder, scoring that fine solo goal and chasing Mohamed Salah back down the pitch to pinch the ball from his toes when there were four minutes left and Liverpool were threatening to put the game beyond reach.