Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher believes Chelsea will be desperate for revenge when battle commences at Anfield today in their Champions League semi-final.
The two English Premier League sides clash at the last four stage for the third time in four years, Liverpool having triumphed on both previous occasions in extremely close and controversial encounters.
Today’s first leg on Merseyside looks set to be another classic, with Carragher predicting that the Blues will come out fighting from the first whistle.
“We have beaten them three times in semi-finals when you include the FA Cup in 2006, so they will be desperate to turn us over,” the defender said. “Hopefully we can keep that run going.”
The 2005 semi-final saw a scoreless draw at Stamford Bridge followed by a highly disputed goal for Liverpool’s Luis Garcia in the second leg, which many felt William Gallas had prevented from crossing the line.
And if that was not thrilling enough, in last year’s semi-final, Liverpool went through 4-1 on penalties at Anfield, each side having won their home legs 1-0.
Victory for either Reds manager Rafael Benitez or Blues boss Avram Grant in this encounter could be enough to preserve their jobs, with both reportedly under pressure from their respective clubs’ owners.
“I don’t think Chelsea under Grant are much different than Chelsea with [Jose] Mourinho — except maybe at a press conference,” said Benitez, referring to the Israeli’s bizarre near-silence following Thursday’s 1-0 win at Everton, a game the Spaniard watched.
Benitez made eight changes for Saturday’s 2-0 win at Fulham, resting key players such as Carragher, captain Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres with today’s clash in mind.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s match on Thursday against Everton — a television-oriented switch which upset many — gave them more time to prepare for the Champions League.
Both sides could be missing key players.
For Chelsea, striker Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack may miss out, while the Germany captain’s fellow midfielder Frank Lampard has been absent recently because of family matters.
Liverpool skipper Gerrard has a neck problem, though center-half Sami Hyppia and midfielder Javier Mascherano should shake off injuries sustained on Saturday in time for the Anfield clash.
Liverpool have made much of “the Anfield effect” in the pre-match build-up.
And their striker Fernando Torres is eager to raise the roof by scoring, having tasted the aura following their 4-2 win over Arsenal in the quarter-final, second leg.
“The emotion I felt after the Arsenal game was very, very strong. I have never felt like that before,” Torres said. “I was almost in tears when the crowd were singing.”
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