BlueChampions - The backyard of Chelsea FC!

When Jose said that Liverpool are the favourites for this tie (because they are on ‘holiday’) it was more of a mind game than an honest admission. That was more than a week back. Now, the night before the first leg, it is not too far from the truth. In the last 30 days, not only Liverpool have played less games than Chelsea but also they are out of the domestic cups and left with inconsequential matches in the league which explains Jose’s ‘holiday’ jibe. Certainly, tomorrow night Liverpool will have the fitter squad.

After weeks of crisis in defence, now we have a slight issue in the midfield. Essien is suspended and he seems to be busy breaking the law while Ballack is out due to injury. Lampard looks tired and off-colour. That’s three of the best of our midfielders. Not really a crisis in my eyes. I’d play Mikel, Maka and Joe Cole in the midfield with Lampard as the tip of the diamond. Well, I can’t resist playing Lampard. This is such a big stage and if big-match players like him are available and not used, that’s simply not good logic. Carvalho is training with the team, which makes me believe that he will be brought on too. As long as Diarra is available, I dont want to see Paulo or Khalid, absolutely not.

The other issue is that Joe Cole, Drogba and Diarra are just one booking away from suspension. In a match against Liverpool, I’d expect emotions to run high but last thing I want to see is missing any of these players for the second leg. In the Jose-Rafa period, in 13 matches between Chelsea and Liverpool, there have been 45 cards. If this worrying trend continues, we might have a problem for the second leg.

Some of the things I want to see in this match are (i) Lampard to take his long rangers, which he has stopped for awhile for some reason (ii) Ashley Cole to long ball his targetman Drogba, which has been working so well (iii) Drogba to be sharper than he has been over the last 2 or 3 matches (iv) To make the best use of the set pieces – it’ll be refreshing to see someone like Mikel taking the corners and indirect freekicks (v) Makelele to be quicker in his distribution and not losing the possession in key areas (v) Ashley Cole to make overlapping forward runs with Joe Cole.

There are some people in life that you simply dont like. There may not be any reason at all but you may just hate some blokes. That’s how I feel about Rafa Benitez. May be because he reminds me of my childhood intellectual bully in my school. He is supposed to be a good tactician in Eurpope, may be because if you compare his also-ran performance in the league, he is outstanding in Europe. He ends up with a 20-point gap from the leader everytime but somehow he does a decent job in Europe.

Meanwhile Jose is busy with his pre-match teasers:

If you are not a big club, you choose one competition and you fight in that competition and forget the others. Big clubs – we cannot do this. We have to go on until we can and try the maximum we can. It is a risk to try and win everything or nothing, or almost nothing because we have the Carling Cup.

In the last three seasons in the Premiership, Chelsea have more than 60 points more than Liverpool. That’s a lot. If they are a great team in knockout competitions, we have to admit that and praise them for it. They are good in knockout.

But if you play only one competition for half of the season, then you have great conditions. Since January they have played only Champions League. So they arrive into this crucial moment of the season in a great situation.

Men to watch on their side are Riise, Sissoko and Kuyt. Steven Gerrard? No, I dont think so, especially if Maka has a good day in office. Kuyt, after a short goal drought, is back on form. Kuyt is one player who can surprise any defence with his quick creative moves. If Terry is slow to react like he has been in the recent games, Kuyt might walk all over him. Riise is always a menace with his screamers and freekicks. Mikel and Diarra should be on their toes not to provide the time and space for Riise’s left footers. Sissoko has been doing for them what Essien has been doing for us (well, in midfield I mean). He has the stamina, strength and power, and also the art of plaing no-nonsense football.

Here is some appetizer before the match:

[video]http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/3pwFjyBKMFHPx3pTp[/video]

There are two important benefits in winning the tie in the order of importance: (i) You dont have to listen to the nonstop 18/5 bullshit (‘best team in Europe’!?!) of the scousers (ii) Chelsea can proceed to the final. I dont buy this argument that they are a better team in the cup competitions. They are a good team and it stops there. If they are bad enough to concede 6 goals at home in a knockout cup competition, let’s not talk about them being good in cups.

We know that we have the team to manage any first leg score and come out winners in the second leg. That said, I dont think we’ll see a result that could make the second leg uninteresting. If Chelsea scores and Liverpool equalises, I expect the game to end in a draw. And if Liverpool scores and we equalise, I see us getting a winner too. All other things being equal, I see a 2-1.