ANDY ANELKA

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has revealed he would welcome Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues have been linked with the out-of-favour Inter Milan ace as Carlo Ancelotti's midfield resources will be depleted in January due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Gunners legend Vieira, who spent nine seasons with Arsenal prior to leaving in 2005, could be the man to fill the void - a move welcomed by Drogba.

However, Chelsea are currently banned from signing players until 2011 in the wake of their pursuit of Gael Kakuta, but that embargo is being appealed by the Londoners.

Vieira was at Stamford Bridge to take in Chelsea's 2-0 win over Liverpool and Drogba believes the 33-year-old would be a good addition for Ancelotti.

"Patrick Viera will be a good addition to our squad, if we can recruit," he told RTL.

"We know that we will lose two midfielders in January. John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien will be in Angola for African Cup of Nations.

"Vieira? We'd take him anytime. We played against him in pre-season in America. He was ready, in good form and match fit."

Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda fired Chelsea back to the Premier League summit and dealt another significant blow to Liverpool's title aspirations.

The former Reds striker was on hand to slot home the opening goal on the hour mark with the chance being put on a plate by strike partner Didier Drogba's delightful cross.

Drogba was again the provider for the clinching goal in added time as his power was too much for Jamie Carragher, who allowed the Ivory Coast international to square for substitute Malouda to score from close range.

Carlo Ancelotti's men took advantage of Manchester United's unexpected home draw with Sunderland on Saturday evening to move back into pole position ahead of the international break.

Back-up Blues goalkeeper Hilario was rarely troubled by the visitors, although he had to be alert in the first half to keep out Albert Riera's free-kick which looked destined for the bottom corner.

Yossi Benayoun missed a good chance to pull one back in the closing moments before Hilario again proved his ability as he dived to his right to keep out Steven Gerrard's late pile-driver.

Rafa Benitez's men have now sustained three league defeats, one more than they suffered throughout all of last season, and are six points adrift of the leaders with their hopes of ending a 20-year wait for league glory already under increasing pressure.

Ancelotti's side were desperate to get back to winning ways in the league after their 3-1 drubbing by Wigan last week and a lacklustre victory over Apoel Nicosia in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.

But it was Liverpool who had the best of the early exchanges and the game sparked into life in the 12th minute when Fernando Torres was fortunate not to receive a yellow card for a late challenge on Chelsea captain John Terry.

The Spaniard's right foot was clearly too high and raked the shins of the England defender However, referee Martin Atkinson opted to give the Liverpool striker a lengthy lecture, much to the annoyance of the home fans.

Chelsea made it two wins from two games in Group D of the UEFA Champions League with a 1-0 win at Apoel Nicosia.

A well crafted goal from Nicolas Anelka after 18 minutes was the difference between the sides but it was not plain sailing for the Blues as they resisted intense second-half pressure.

In a hostile G S Pancypria Stadium, the home side went close and perhaps should have equalised with second-half chances from Savvas Poursaitidis and the lively Costas Charalambides.

Chelsea also survived a series of corners midway through the second period, with Ashley Cole instrumental at the back.

The win means Chelsea remain at the top of the group and look well placed to progress after winning their opening two fixtures.

Boss Carlo Ancelotti certainly did not get the reaction he wanted following their defeat at Wigan and better opponents would have given the English side much more to deal with

The Blues face Apoel Nicosia in Cyprus on Wednesday, licking their wounds from their opening defeat of the season against Wigan at the weekend.

Malouda admits a number of harsh words were spoken in the dressing room, particularly from captain John Terry.

"He (John) started first with the players," revealed Malouda.

"Everybody spoke at half-time in the dressing room but that stays with the players.

"The players know it wasn't a good performance and not the level we expect of Chelsea.

"When you lose the way we did, nobody can be happy with that. We spoke and now we have the opportunity to react and, I would say, to act.

"Against Wigan we were always reacting and were late with everything. Now we have an opportunity in another competition.

"We're first in this group and have come here to win. We're not thinking about Wigan. It was a bad result. We come here looking for a good result.

"We didn't put all the ingredients in to win as we did in the first six games. We know that, even if we are a good team, if we don't put all the ingredients in, we won't win.

"Every team we play is very organised and wants to beat us. If we are not prepared for that, we can have trouble against any team. We know that and we don't want that to happen at any time.

"We spoke because it was not a good performance. But we also speak together when we're winning. We try to analyse things and look at the mistakes.

"We do that even when we've won. We want to correct what's wrong, and tomorrow is a good opportunity."

Before the match it was widely anticipated that the Blues would continue their 100 per cent star to the new Premier League season.

Given that Wigan had failed to beat any of the 'big four' in 34 previous attempts, few Latics fan could have imagined the eventual outcome.

Despite equalising just after half-time to score his 100th goal for Chelsea, Drogba admitted his side seemed to implode with Petr Cech seeing red before Hugo Rodellega and Paul Scharner sealed a deserved win for the hosts.

"We didn't play very well," he told the London Evening Standard. "We lost all the battles, all the duels. We didn't win anything. We were poor.

"This is the worst game I have played in since I have been at Chelsea. We need to think about it, correct what was wrong and try to go again.

"We equalised just after half-time and we were trying to improve our game, but then there was the penalty and a red card, which I think was a bit harsh.

"Still with 10 players we had the chance to make it 2-2 but we didn't do it.

"There was a lot of space and they used the pitch very well, they deserved to win."