PRE-MATCH BRIEFING: CHELSEA V LIVERPOOL
These two sides head in to this Sunday's game following European action with contrasting team selections and contrasting results. Club historian Rick Glanvill and club statistician Paul Dutton face up to a familiar foe…
TALKING POINTS
There was a time when Chelsea and Liverpool seemingly met in every competition imaginable each season. Between 2004 and 2009 we played each other 24 times, virtually five games a season.
2009 to 2011 brought a trial separation - just league matches - but the affair was back on with a vengeance last season, encounters in both domestic cup competitions adding to the annual fixtures.
The Scousers have won five of the last six meetings, but it was Chelsea's day when the two teams met in last season's FA Cup final at Wembley, goals from Ramires (pictured below) and Didier Drogba making Andy Carroll's strike a mere consolation.
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KEY STAT |
This is the first Barclays Premier League match for which John Terry is available after his ban. In his absence Chelsea conceded 12 goals in five matches on all fronts. The Blues have not managed to prevent the opposition scoring in the last seven matches.
Visitors Liverpool are without a win in three domestic matches and have slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League with 11 points from 10 matches. This is their worst showing from the start of a league season since 1910/11. After 10 games back then they were bottom with just six points.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers was of course an important and much admired member of the backroom staff at Chelsea in the mid-2000s, known for his modern methodology.
In the recent Channel 5 series Being: Liverpool he was seen using a mind game on his players, holding up three sealed envelopes supposedly containing the names of the people 'who will let us down this season.' He might now wonder whether he filled enough envelopes.
Many of Rodgers's squad missed the long-haul round trip to play Anzhi Makhachkala in Moscow this week. Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel, Joe Allen, Nuri Sahin, Raheem Sterling, José Enrique and Pepe Reina all stayed at home to prepare for this game.
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KEY TWEET |
The Blues played at home on Wednesday night and enjoyed a huge morale boost, inflicting a first defeat in 25 matches on highly impressive Shakhtar Donetsk.
The importance of Victor Moses's last-seconds strike - his third header for the Blues - was evident in the goalscorer's multiple celebrations. But the real victor value lies in the three points.
Crucially, a share of the spoils in the Juventus Stadium on 20 November would now leave the Blues requiring a win at home against Nordsjaelland to progress to the knockout phase of this competition. Victory in Turin would confirm Chelsea's qualification there and then.
Barclays Premier League fixtures
Saturday
Arsenal v Fulham 3pm
Everton v Sunderland 3pm
Reading v Norwich 3pm
Southampton v Swansea 3pm
Stoke v QPR 3pm
Wigan v West Brom 3pm
Aston Villa v Manchester United 5.30pm - Sky Sports
Sunday
Manchester City v Tottenham 1.30pm - Sky Sports
Newcastle v West Ham 3pm
Chelsea v Liverpool 4pm - Sky Sports
| Barclays Premier League table | ||||
| Top | Pld | Gd | Pts | |
| 1 | Man Utd | 10 | +12 | 24 |
| 2 | Chelsea | 10 | +12 | 23 |
| 3 | Man City | 10 | +9 | 22 |
| 4 | Everton | 10 | +6 | 17 |
| 5 | West Brom | 10 | +4 | 17 |
| 6 | Tottenham | 10 | +3 | 17 |
| Middle | ||||
| 8 | Fulham | 10 | +5 | 15 |
| 9 | West Ham | 10 | +2 | 15 |
| 10 | Newcastle | 10 | -2 | 14 |
| 11 | Swansea | 10 | +1 | 12 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 10 | -2 | 11 |
| 13 | Wigan | 10 | -5 | 11 |
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