Play it again, Rafa and Jose.
Just four days after Wednesday night's 0-0 draw in the Champions League, Liverpool and Chelsea meet again in the Premier League in the latest installment of their increasingly bitter rivalry.
Sunday's match -- also at Anfield -- will be the seventh in a year between Jose Mourinho's Blues and Rafa Benitez's Reds.
League champion Chelsea has won three and drawn two of those games. But Liverpool's lone success came in the biggest game -- a 1-0 victory at Anfield in the second-leg of last season's Champions League semifinal.
That victory, and the subsequent win in the Champions League final against AC Milan, has given Liverpool confidence playing Chelsea -- something no other club in England seems to have.
Even after Wednesday's scoreless draw, the five-time European champions seemed like the winners. Several newspapers suggested they'd won the moral high ground. In three games, Chelsea has failed to score against the Reds.
"I think we played better than them," Benitez said. "We saw that we can beat them if we play well."
Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher declined to complain about a possible penalty that wasn't given on Wednesday when his header hit the arm of Chelsea's William Gallas.
He contrasted that with Chelsea's bitter reaction to Luis Garcia's disputed but deciding goal against the Blues in last year's semifinal.
"It was definitely a penalty," Carragher said. "They [Chelsea] were crying about various things before the game, but hopefully we have a bit more dignity about us at this club.
"Whenever we play Chelsea, we always seem to get penalties that aren't given, but we don't cry too much about what happened."
Both managers come from the Iberian peninsula -- but are so different. The Spaniard Benitez is soft-spoken and modest. The Portuguese Mourinho is brash and provocative.
Liverpool was the club that attacked more against the Blues, who have given up only one goal in seven league games, and none in two in the Champions League. Mourinho was dismissive of the Reds' direct style in getting the ball to 2.0m striker Peter Crouch.
"As opponents we don't have to like it or not, but we have to cope with it," Mourinho said. "Liverpool didn't create much danger with that direct style."
Added Benitez: "I am sure when they start talking and talking and talking [it] means they are worried and maybe afraid of playing [Liverpool]."
Even before Wednesday's game, Mourinho was trying to get the psychological upper hand. What he said about Liverpool, however, could be said about his club.
"Liverpool is a team you cannot trust because they don't play with an open heart," Mourinho said.
"They just wait for other teams to make mistakes. But they are very well organized."
Chelsea has surged since it was purchased two years ago by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Abramovich has spent about US$500 million buying players for the club.
On Wednesday, reports from Moscow said Abramovich would make several billion more as the Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom agreed to pay US$13 billion for control of Sibneft oil. Sibneft's owner is Millhouse Capital, a holding company controlled by Abramovich.
"Roman could buy every single club in Britain," the tabloid Sun said in a boldface headline.
Both Liverpool and Chelsea are in good shape to reach the 16-team knockout stage of the Champions League. However, in the Premier League -- Chelsea is already running away from its challengers just a few weeks into the season.
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