LONDON (Reuters) – Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho said he expected to be given time to turn around the defending English champions’ dreadful start to the season after they suffered their sixth defeat in 11 Premier League games in a 3-1 home loss to Liverpool on Saturday.

Asked by a reporter if he expected to be dismissed, a tight-lipped Mourinho responded: “No, I don’t.”

When another reporter attending a post-match news conference asked if he thought Mourinho would be given the chance to fix Chelsea’s alarming slump to just above the relegation zone, the Portuguese coach said: “Yes”.

Chelsea went ahead in the fourth minute when Brazil midfielder Ramires headed in from a cross by Cesar Azpilicueta but the game swung Liverpool’s way with two goals from Philippe Coutinho and substitute Christian Benteke added the third in the 83rd minute.

Mourinho declined to respond directly to questions about a moment in the game when Liverpool midfielder Lucas, who had already been booked, was spared a second yellow card by referee Mark Clattenburg for tripping Ramires who was bursting forward with the scores level at 1-1.

Mourinho was given a heavy fine and a suspended one-match stadium ban for criticising refereeing decisions earlier in the season and he was banished to the stands in Chelsea’s previous game at West Ham.

He did, though, appear to allude to the Lucas incident in the news conference.

“Everything is a consequence of some crucial moments, moments that the stadium saw,” he said. “The players more than see, they felt it and from now what happens is just a consequence.”

(Reporting by William Schomberg; Editing by Clare Fallon)