Chelsea VS. Liverpool...AGAIN!?

These two teams know more about each other than any clubs in Europe know about each other. At least you would hope so as a spectator, in the past five years they have met no less than 19 times. This has come to form one of the greatest rivalries in modern football.

The Chelsea fans have even come up with a chant in recognition to this rivalry; the simple “WE – HATE – SCOUSERS” gets the point across without much room for misunderstanding.

In the same amount of time however, Liverpool have been clever enough to keep the same manager. Chelsea however have employed and sacked four different managers in that time.

This may prove to Chelsea’s disadvantage, as their current manager Guus Hiddink has only been in charge for a short amount of time. With Liverpool being arguably the most organized team in the world, this may prove to be the deciding factor, with Chelsea making more mistakes.

However, Chelsea fans will point to last year, where they were in a similar situation with Avram Grant in charge, and they came through with flying colours, albeit in extra time.

With time counting down to penalties, Liverpool conceded a penalty, allowing Lampard to score it with an emotional reaction, as it was his first game after his mother had passed away.

This after Essien’s strike had been ruled out for offside. Drogba and Anelka combined shortly afterwards to cement their place in the final, despite a late goal by Ryan Babel from 30 yards.

Chelsea fans will argue the squad is stronger than it was last year, despite the bad run of form they have suffered this season. However, Liverpool can say the same of their team with both teams on equal points in the premier league.

As they both hold a very slim hope of beating Manchester United to the premier league, both will feel they have a point to prove in the champion’s league.

As it will be very close, what will probably decide the tie this time round is an away goal. Chelsea will feel they have to score at Anfield in the first leg, as that would put a great deal of pressure on them to score at Stamford Bridge, which is no mean feat.

They have managed it three times in their last two meetings however.

Chelsea has one of the best defences in the world however, and some would indeed argue they the best pairing of central defenders in John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho, both greatly experienced in the champion’s league, and both are used to this sort of tie, but they will have to perform very well at Anfield to prevent the likes of Torres and Gerrard creating an opening.

Guus Hiddink went on record recently saying that Chelsea’s versatility is “key” in their end of season run in, in all competitions. This may be what wins the tie for Chelsea. Against Juventus, at home they played the usual 4-3-3 system.

In the away leg they made life harder for Juventus in midfield, by playing 4-4-2 with Anelka and Drogba paired up front, ensuring that Chelsea would be able to attack and would not be sitting back on the one nil lead form the first leg.

This did leave room for Juventus on the flanks, as they played no wingers. However, with Belletti coming off the bench, he provided the width to set up the second equalising goal, which put Chelsea three two ahead on aggregate.

Both teams have enough attacking talent to cause a great deal of problems for the other; however, if Liverpool were t lose the likes of Torres or Gerrard to injury then their chances of getting to the semi-final would have taken a disastrous blow.

The same could be said if Chelsea were to lose Drogba or Lampard, however they have players like Deco who was brought in to do a similar job to Lampard.

Altogether the tie is incredibly difficult to call, but history shows that the team with the second leg at home in this tie goes through.

This time that team is Chelsea, so they will feel they already have the advantage, and if they can keep a clean sheet and possibly even score at Anfield, they will feel extremely confident about the second leg, as Liverpool will have to attack a lot more, allowing Chelsea the opportunity to catch them on the break, and possibly put the tie beyond Liverpool’s capabilities.