While both Michael Owen and Emile Heskey went close to breaking the deadlock in the first half, Valencia opened the scoring through Vicente Rodriguez and sealed victory when Xisco Munoz netted from close range to complete a sweeping Valencia counter-attack.
Gerard Houllier will once again be pleased with the efforts of the lively Florent Sinama-Pongolle and, in particular, Anthony Le Tallec, who came close to opening his Anfield goalscoring account with a dazzling overhead kick.
Claudio Ranieri, who watched on from the stands, will feel that his expensively-assembled Chelsea side are more then capable of claiming victory at Anfield next week against a Liverpool side still looking short of the form required to challenge for the Premiership crown.
What did you think of Saturday's game?