Once again these two teams are facing each other in a CL tie. Liverpool for the past seasons has come up the victor, however the tides could be turning as well as luck. This match was played at the notorious Liverpool stadium known as Anfield and on the night it surely lived up to its reputation. The crowd were relentless to the opponents and it seemed at times Chelsea players were intimidated by the atmosphere. Liverpool controlled the majority of the match not giving Chelsea much room to move forward. With the likes of Didier Drogba subdued and a goal scored by the relentless worker bee Dirk Kuyt a Liverpool victory seemed like the evident result.
However as luck would have it this was not to be. The second half of the match saw Avram Grant a coach that is criticized for his selections change his side from a midfield fortress squad to attackers running on the wing. Off came Ballack and Joe Cole and in their place Solomon Kalau and Nic Anelka, two lethal attacking mind players. This changed the atmosphere a brought pressure on the Liverpool defense which eventually led to the most hurting of results..an own goal in the final minute.This result gives Chelsea a sacred away goal and puts them in the driving seat to win a passage to the finals in Moscow. Chelsea will be at home at the fortress known as Stanford Bridge and look the favourites now to come away with the winning result.
Liverpool's fate now lies in their brave captain Gerrard and their powerful centre forward Fernando Torres. The bad news is Chelsea will be welcoming the return of their midfield maestro Essien who is known to score goals when his team needs him. Liverpool also has a poor record at Stanford Bridge and Torres is more comfortable scoring on his home ground, as most of his goals this season were scored in Anfield.
My pick: Chelsea, expect Drogba, Essien to have a good game up front, while Terry, Carvalho and Cech make sure that Liverpool go home empty 2-0 is my prediction.
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