Dalglish extended his remarkable unbeaten record against the Blues from his two spells in charge at Anfield to 12 games yesterday when the Reds won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The result left both sides 12 points adrift of Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City. But, while it extended Liverpool's unbeaten run to nine matches in all competitions, it meant Chelsea's third defeat in their last four league outings.

That capped their worst start to a season since Roman Abramovich bought the club eight years ago. And, with the Russian having sacked five managers during that period, Villas-Boas' job security is already being questioned.

But Dalglish said: "No-one in the football profession will be questioning him.

"I don't know the lad, but he had a fantastic CV at Porto.

"I don't know what the criticism will be, but there's huge respect for him in the football profession."

Villas-Boas was confident Abramovich remained fully behind him, claiming the Russian would not have paid a world record £13million to prise him from Porto this summer only to sack him at the first sign of trouble.

Villas-Boas, who on Friday shrugged off Guus Hiddink being back on the managerial market, said: "It's not a question of the owner having patience.

"We have set out to build something new at this club and the club is committed to taking what we're building to the future.

"The owner didn't pay 15 million euros to get me out of Porto to pay me another fortune to get out.

"Our commitment is towards the club and what we are doing in the future."

Dalglish outwitted Carlo Ancelotti to win 1-0 at Stamford Bridge last season by playing a three-man defence, and he produced another tactical masterstroke yesterday by handing goalscorer Maxi Rodriguez his first league start of the season.

"He likes London, Maxi," Dalglish said of the player who scored a hat-trick at Fulham in May.

Liverpool players wore black armbands yesterday following the death of goalkeeper Brad Jones' young son from leukaemia on Friday.

Dalglish said: "That's when football becomes irrelevant, really, when a five-year-old kid dies.

"We all dread to think what the boy's gone through. He knows everyone at the club is thinking of him and are sympathetic with him."

Villas-Boas acknowledged yesterday's defeat dealt a serious blow to Chelsea's title hopes.

"It's not impossible to turn it around," he said.

"It's not the brightest of starts for Chelsea in the Premier League in the last 10 years, but the belief is there.

"It doesn't look good being 12 points behind the leaders, a strong leader, but the December fixtures give us hope if we're able to make the most of it."