Chelsea Vs Liverpool Preview - The Battles That Will Be Key.

By: Rob | April 30th, 2008

Drogba and Riise try to dive most spectacularly Its time to step up and be counted. Can Liverpool break that ‘Not Scoring At The Bridge’ duck? Will Chelsea finally lose at home? More importantly, will the match be any good? Well Hopefully It will be some kind of entertainment, even though the track record speaks for itself. I have the expected starting XI’s so lets have a closer look and see who will emerge witha trip to Moscow, and who will emerge mangerless.

Chelsea

——-Cech———–

Ferreria–Terry—Carvalho–A.Cole
————-Essien————
——-Lampard—Ballack—–
Kalou——————–J.Cole
———–Drogba————

Liverpool

————Reina———–
Arbeloa—Skrtel—Carra—–Aurelio
——–Alonso—–Masch——-
Kuyt———Gerrard———Babel
————-El Nino————

Clearly the big players are going to have to have big games. Liverpool need to score at Stamford Bridge, and if they are going to, then Gerrard is going to have to be given the space that he needs to either bang one in from range or supply Fernando Torres with something. Torres only needs half a chance, and he could be the difference. If Alonso and Mascherano can take care of Lampard and Ballack, then Gerrard vs Essien is going to be the battle that decides the game. If Essien can defend against Gerrard, then Liverpool don’t stand much chance of creating anything.

Conversely, if Mascherano and Alonso can’t hold Ballack and Lampard (who is expected to return) then Chelsea could get a big win at the Bridge. Drogba is fired up to prove Rafa Benitez wrong, and if he is in a fighting mood is going to be massive. He does need Ballack or Joe Cole to have a big game to create stuff for him, as he just can’t do it on his own.

The clock is ticking down, only 90 minutes untill kick off. Fans of both clubs are going to begin to feel the butterflies. I’ve predicted a 2-1 win to Chelsea, purely because I can’t see them losing at Stamford Bridge. It could easily be tighter than that though, some of the best defensive midfielders around are on display. And that battle for me, will decide the game.