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.”
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Shahzad Khan was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
OBJECTIVE REACHED: ’Now for us, it’s about getting healthy, making sure everybody is ready to go, and we can ramp up,’ the Atlanta Hawks’ C.J. McCollum said after the game The Atlanta Hawks on Friday secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own. C.J. McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that would see the seventh-through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference. Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece, and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13
RSS