[quote=“ChocolateMice”]… Kev and NCC will like the shorts in this…
[/quote]
Benayoun in injury time to nick the win.
Liverpool back on top of the league. Two point lead with two games in hand for United.
We’re gonna win the league,
We’re gonna win the league,
And now you’re gonna believe us,
And now you’re gonna believe us,
And now you’re gonna believe us,
We’re gonna win the league!
One each at half-time at old trafford. Ronaldo with the lead and Carew with the equaliser. Villa well deserve to be level by all accounts.
United making very hard work of this
United are bottling it…Take that Fergie you cunt!
squaeky bum time indeed !!! villa go in front
What a fookin goal - who is that fella?
Some 17 year old chap…That goal could well be the winning of the league for United
Sure Fergie might as well announce the stoppage time himself. Fuckin joke.
Never write them off. They are never out of it.:rolleyes: Top of the League for another week at least.
cracking goal alright, never heard of that lad, id say he’s just won the league for Utd
Liverpool v Chelsea: John Terry says Anfield fear factor has worn off
Familiarity evidently breeds contempt. For the fifth time in as many seasons, John Terry will lead his Chelsea troops into the cauldron of noise into which Anfield transcends on a European night, but this time he insists they will be deaf to the effects of Liverpool’s wall of sound.
By Rory Smith
Luminaries ranging from Thierry Henry to Jorge Valdano in recent years have eulogised the fervour of the Kop, the inspiration it offers the hosts and the dread it instils in visitors. In 2007, Geremi and Arjen Robben froze when faced with taking a penalty in the deafening roar.
But Chelsea’s captain believes after enduring so many hellish nights on Merseyside, the fear factor has finally worn off. “Their fans will play a big part, but we’ve learnt to deal with that,” Terry said. "It was intimidating, the first few times, coming up against them in the biggest stages of the competition, but now we know what to expect. We know how to go out there and do the business.
“We did it last year and since Guus Hiddink took over, we’ve posed a great threat in front of goal. We’ve scored in every game bar one, at Tottenham. If we can keep them at bay at our end, we’ll be a real threat up there. The away goal poses a great threat.”
Yet the early skirmishes before the final showdown on Wednesday night and in six days’ time suggest the momentum is very much with Benitez’s men. Not only have Liverpool beaten Chelsea home and away ending a four-year Stamford Bridge unbeaten run in the process but, in Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, they boast arguably the most potent double act in world football.
Terry said: "At Anfield in February we didn’t play too well. We kept them at bay for 88 minutes, though, and we’re a lot stronger now. We’ve reformed, regrouped and gone again. That’s why we are where we are in the league.
"But Liverpool have a great spine to their team Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Gerrard and Torres. We don’t just have to look at Stevie. He supplies the goals for Torres, scores goals, but if you focus too much on one of them, the other will do the damage.
“Stevie and Torres are up there with the very best in the world, Gerrard linking up with the forwards and bombing on, while Torres is one of the best forwards around. We have to be organised, collectively, to keep them both at bay.”
Terry, superstitious as ever, insisted he speak to the media at Anfield on Tuesday, just as he did before his side finally overcame their hoodoo last year. He clearly feels repeating the trick has been made all the easier since the arrival of Hiddink, under whom Chelsea have lost just once after a campaign which had threatened to disintegrate under his predecessor, Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Hiddink’s future, though, remains very much open for debate. Sources close to the club insist he is still intent on returning to coaching the Russian national team at the end of the campaign, regardless of how much success he enjoys, as was originally intended.
Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan manager, is believed to be on the short list to replace the Dutchman, while soundings taken from the players suggest Jose Mourinho is the favoured option at Cobham. Hiddink, though, in relaxed mood, on Tuesday revealed he feels the role of the manager on occasions like Wednesday night’s can often be overstated.
He said: "Managers think we are so important, but in the end it is the team who have to do it. We have never lost a game in the pre-match preparation or in a team meeting. The players have to stick to our tactical plans and then it depends on which team makes the fatal error.
“But we will not come to Anfield to sit back and wait until we are overcome. That’s not the way to play football and it’s certainly not my philosophy. We’re not coming here to wait. Wherever we can we will try and take the initiative.”
Liverpool v Chelsea
Kick-off: Wed Apr 8, 7.45pm, Anfield, Liverpool
Touchline duel
Rafael Benitez v Guus Hiddink
After a no-score draw with Jose Mourinho, emphatic defeat to Avram Grant and triumph over Luiz Felipe Scolari, Benitez meets his fourth Chelsea manager in five years and perhaps the first who can claim to match the Spaniard tactically. Hiddinks calm has brought confidence and composure back to Stamford Bridge, setting the immovable object up perfectly to stop Liverpools irresistible force.
Key battle
Steven Gerrard v Michael Essien
While the confrontation between the Liverpool captain and his England team-mate, Frank Lampard, may, on paper, look the more intriguing, it is the Ghanaian who injects dynamism and power into Chelseas play and who is best placed to preoccupy Gerrard with his defensive duties to nullify his attacking threat.
Talking tactics
A repeat of the thunderous attacking by Liverpool which left Real Madrid dazed and confused is unlikely, given how well both sides know the others game. The away goals rule means the emphasis is more on Chelsea to score at Anfield something none of their players have managed in the Champions League allowing the hosts the space Gerrard and Fernando Torres crave.
Team details
Liverpool (4-2-3-1, r-l): Reina; Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Aurelio; Alonso, Lucas; Kuyt, Gerrard, Riera; Torres.
Chelsea (4-3-3, r-l): Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Mikel, Essien, Lampard; Kalou, Drogba, Malouda.
Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)
Latest quotes
John Terry: “Their fans will play a big part, but we’ve learnt to deal with that. It was intimidating, the first few times, coming up against them in the biggest stages of the competition, but now we know what to expect. We know how to go out there and do the business.”
Rafa Benitez: “I am not tired of playing Chelsea. It means we are doing well in this competition because we are both good sides. It is hard to find anything different to surprise them. The players know each other really well. I do not see a big difference between this game and the others. We seem to thrive on matches against the top sides. It is easier to motivate yourself when you are playing the best because you want to be successful.”
Jamie Carragher: “We’ve got a great record against Chelsea this season and if we play the way we have done against them in the two league matches then we know we can go through. The fact we did the double against them might give us that extra confidence. I’m sure if they’d beaten us twice we’d have gone into it with a bit more trepidation, but the fact we won twice will give us a bit of a boost.”
Fernando Torres: “Domestic titles are very important but to win the Champions League you are saying we are the best team in Europe. Winning the European Championship was a great thing for me and I understood what it was to win a major trophy and what I had been missing. On the way home from the European Championship I made a promise that I wanted more of this success with Liverpool and it does not come any bigger than the European Cup.”
Florent Malouda: “Our key players are more confident, our game is better and we are more disciplined and to play against Liverpool this is the main condition.”
Betting: Bookies make tonight’s clash a close one to call, with Liverpool 13/10 to win after 90 minutes and Chelsea 12/5. The 1-1 draw is perhaps tempting at 11/2, while Steven Gerrard is 6/1 to open the scoring. The draw is 2-1. Liverpool are 4/5 to qualify overall, with Chelsea even money.
Statistics
Previous meetings: CL: SF 27.04.05 Chelsea 0 Liverpool 0. 3.05.05 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0. CL: GP 28.09.05 Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0. 6.12.05 Chelsea 0 Liverpool 0. CL: SF 26.04.07 Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0. 2.05.07 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0 (after extra time - Liverpool won on pens). CL: SF 22.04.08 Liverpool 1 Chelsea 1. 30.04.08 Chelsea 3 Liverpool 2 (after extra time).
Previous appearances in last four: Champions League - Chelsea 4, Liverpool 3. European Cup - Liverpool 9, Chelsea 4
Top scorer:
Steven Gerrard 7. Chelsea: Didier Drogba 3
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It is the fifth consecutive season that Chelsea and Liverpool have met in the Champions League. Three of the four previous meetings have been in the semi-finals of the competition.
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Until last season when Chelsea reached the final 4-3 on aggregate, matches between the two had never produced more than one goal.
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Liverpool have lost only one of their last 19 Champions League games, including qualifiers, and that was the 3-2 extra time defeat to Chelsea in last season’s semi-final.
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Liverpool have conceded only two goals in their last five European home games and have lost only once in eight matches against English clubs at home in European competition, a 1-0 defeat to Leeds United in the 1971 Fairs Cup semi-finals.
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Chelsea have not won any of their last seven Champions League away games though they have drawn five.
Tonight was horrible. That is all.
it was fucking brillant if you ask me
Well I didn’t ask you did I? Now make me a sandwich or fuck off the Liverpool thread.
Liverpool are going nowhere…
2 goals from corners.
Thats not acceptable at this level. Marking Zones.
Pathetic.
Yours etc,
GSH.
Liverpool were absolutely shit and should be delighted with 3-1,on the run of play and clearcut chances it should have been 6-1,Dossena is cat.