Liverpool took advantage of Chelsea's erratic defending to earn a comfortable 4-1 win on Tuesday, gaining a small measure of revenge for Saturday's FA Cup final loss and eliminating the Blues from the race for fourth place in the Premier League.
The result meant the Blues cannot finish in the top four of the Premier League now, meaning they will have to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 19 to qualify for the tournament next year.
The home side, who lost 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday, netted three times in nine minutes through a Michael Essien own goal, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Agger to take total control before Stewart Downing missed a penalty to make it 4-0 on the stroke of half-time.
Chelsea were shocking, in particular John Terry, who was nutmegged three times in the first half, twice by the excellent Suarez.
Downing had also earlier struck the crossbar while the nearest a much-changed Chelsea came to scoring was when Fernando Torres, on his first return to Anfield following his £50million move south last January, also hit the bar from a tight angle.
Chelsea rolled their sleeves up for the start of the second half, with Ramires bundling in Florent Malouda's delivery past a hapless Pepe Reina shortly after the re-start.
The Blues were the architects of their downfall once more though as Ross Turnbull's poor clearance was capitalised on by Jonjo Shelvey, who scored his first Premier League goal with a stunning finish.
Liverpool pressed for more, but with the game ending 4-1, the Reds moved up to eighth on 52 points, one behind their Merseyside rivals Everton in seventh. Chelsea's defeat sees them stay in sixth.
Roberto Di Matteo had no regrets about his decision to make eight changes to his Chelsea side.
"We've come so far because we've used all the energy and all the players we have in the squad, that's the only way to be in the race for fourth until now and qualify for those two finals," he told Sky Sports 1.
"No regrets, Liverpool is a difficult place to play and we found a very inspired Liverpool side.
"We've had very intense games, the last one just three days ago. To get yourself up every three days...it's a big demand on everyone. I thought with fresh legs and new energy we could have had a better chance.
"But Liverpool were better tonight."
Asked if he felt he had let the chance of fourth spot go, the Italian answered: "We have had 37 games to rack up the points, not just tonight."
