Match Preview - Chelsea

On the back of an unbeaten run since the turn of the new year, Liverpool will go into the match against the league favourites full of confidence, with Saturdays 2-0 over Aston Villa featuring goals from the unfavoured Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert fresh in the players minds a win is not too far from belief. Brendan Rodger's seems to have turned a corner with his new look Liverpool team after a harsh run in the opening half of the season, Liverpool now look to become a formidable force once again. Despite still being 8th in the place they are certainly on the rise again, and a team that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will not dismiss.

The recent form guides place liverpool second in the league, only bettered by Southampton, Liverpool remain once place above Chelsea. Liverpool have won 4 of their last 6 games, drawing the other two, amassing a points total of 14 out of a possible 18. Meanwhile Chelsea have won the same amount in their past 6 fixtures but have drawn against form leaders Southampton and lost to Totenham in that memorable 5-3 demolition. A worrying statistic for Liverpool is the goal difference, Chelsea lead Liverpool by a respectable 30, while Liverpool remain the second lowest scorers in the top 8 only worsened by Totenham at 2. A stark contrast between the Liverpool of this season compared to the free scoring of Suarez and Sturridge last term. Chelsea's attacking has been applauded this season notably down to their prolific talisman Diego Costa a £32 million signing from Athletico Madrid. Liverpool's forward line for much of this season has looked bleak significant pressure has been placed on the young Raheem Sterling to play in an unnatural forward role, a daunting comparison between the two shows Diego Costa dominating the goals Statistic by nearly 5 times as many at what the young winger has achieved. An even more embarrassing tally shows that Diego Costa has scored more goals than Daniel Sturridge, Mario Ballotelli, Fabio Borini and Raheem Sterling combined.
Diego Costa will be a player Liverpool's back four will have to silence, the inclusion of the agile Emre Can as a makeshift centre back has been a breath of fresh air for Liverpool fans, Brendan Rodgers spoke of him after the Aston Villa fixture "He's a central Midfield player, but his composure, calmness and strength a number of times against Benteke was impressive.The 21 year old German is expected to feature at centre back on Tuesday, he played at centre midfield during Liverpool's premier league fixture against Chelsea at Anfield during which he scored the only Liverpool goal, and was praised by fans who questioned Rodger's decision to leave him out of the side for a significant amount of time.

Chelsea will also has to be aware of the Liverpool captain return, Steven Gerrard is expected to return to the starting 11 after being rested on the weekend against Aston Villa. Gerrard is in his final season as a Liverpool player and has been quoted as stating that he wants to end his final season with a trophy. Gerrard is very familiar with Chelsea, as he almost made the decision to make the switch to the club in 2004 and 2005 before deciding to stay on merseyside. Jose Mourinho recently stated he desperately tried to get the midfielder to make the move to the London club, and said he "dreamed of Makelele, Gerrard and Lampard in midfield". Mournho's compliments of players are very rare, so this should be taken in the highest gratitude.

Formidable attempts have been made to seduce the current top scorer to move to some of the worlds greatest clubs, notably Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Inter Milan. With 9 goals this season Gerrard has been one of the most important players to wear the red shirt, and has dragged Liverpool through thick and thin over the past 12 years, amassing a total of 10 club honours and even being on the shortlist for the Ballon D'or to Frank Lampard who finished second and Ronaldinho who won the prize. Gerrard's presence on the football pitch is formidable and is a player Chelsea will look to squash if they want to progress to the final of the League cup.

Liverpool broke Chelsea hearts back in 2005 when Luis Garcia scored what since been renamed as the 'Ghost goal' as rumours and myths regarding whether it crossed the line have angered many and sparked high tech investigations. An ignored fact is that if the goal was not given, Peter Cech would have been sent off, thus giving Liverpool a penalty, along with Chelsea being without their first choice keeper coupled with them finishing the fixture with 10 men.

Liverpool will have their work cut out for them against the league leaders, Chelsea are looking for the treble this season if not the quadruple. Last time the two met, Liverpool were outclassed in a 2-1 defeat, their last loss at home for six fixtures, Liverpool were under performing the run in to that fixture but now look to find their feet again after a rough start that seen some fans calling for the replacement of Brendan Rodgers.With Daniel Sturridge not set for return until the end of the month, Liverpool will have to be a lot more solid in the match, the lack of a forward line as a presence may be costly, but with a more secure looking back four that has seen Simon Mignolet total 7 clean sheets equaling David De Gea, things are on the rise for the Merseyside club I expect a more positive performance than the one seen Last time at Anfield.