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For Chelsea, both Gary Cahill and David Luiz continue to be side-lined. Luiz, despite his moments of madness provides fans with rare moments of unforgettable magic. Cahill has turned out to be a good buy for the Blues; he unfortunately lost his footing in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona and is suffering from a hamstring injury as a consequence of that ill-fated fall.

Lucas Leiva, the Brazilian who had plenty of critics, had performed well last season but was ruled out with a serious injury this season. The former captain of Blackpool, Charlie Adam had joined Liverpool this season. He proved to be a good buy as he did a wonderful job for the Merseyside team until injury ruled him out for six months. Adam’s work ethic has been missed.

Game Plan Analysis

Chelsea can certainly turn on the style against their opponents. However, this season, they really haven’t been able to succeed when they have set up in an attacking formation against other teams whose Plan A is to come out with all guns blazing and charge towards the opposition’s defence.

Arsenal exposed Chelsea in Andre Villas Boas’ days. Chelsea has already lost to Liverpool in the league this season. Chelsea has been much more stable under Roberto Di Matteo. The balance in the team is right as showcased against what many consider the best club side of all time (even ahead of the great Real Madrid, Ajax, Bayern München, Liverpool and AC Milan dynasties) Barcelona.

Liverpool is not really capable of sitting back and absorbing the pressure. They will perhaps line up in a 4-4-2 while Chelsea, knowing that they won’t be able to field a highly attack minded line-up on the 19th of May, will probably set-up in a 4-3-3 system, just like against Newcastle and go for this trophy.

Probable Line-Ups

Selection headaches might exist for both teams. However, both squads are filled with talented players. Stewart Downing will be a man on a mission; in his days as a Liverpool fan, he watched Di-Matteo open the scoring early on for Chelsea in Wembley to dash his side’s dreams.

Chelsea (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Ashley Cole- John Terry- Branislav Ivanovic- Jose Bosingwa; Frank Lampard- Michael Essien- Ramires; Fernando Torres- Didier Drogba- Juan Mata

Liverpool (4-4-2): Pepe Reina; Jose Enrique- Daniel Agger- Martin Skrtel- Glen Johnson; Stewart Downing- Jay Spearing- Steven Gerrard- Jordan Henderson; Andy Carroll- Luis Suárez

Head to Head

In 9 meetings in Wembley, Chelsea has beaten Liverpool five times. However, the last four occasions in which these two rivals has met, Liverpool has come out on top. While those meetings no longer come in the Champions League, they are still pretty special.

These are the results of the last five matches between the sides:

Chelsea 0-2 Liverpool (Carling Cup)
Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool
Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool
Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea
Liverpool 0-2 Chelsea

Recent Form Analysis

Chelsea has left their best performances of the season in the Champions League. League performances under Roberto Di Matteo had been pretty good too. They picked up a point against Arsenal before heading into the second leg against Barcelona. Afterwards, they absolutely squashed QPR 6-1 at home in a fixture which was supposed to test their mettle.
They were aided by an early Daniel Sturridge goal in that match.

Their last league match saw their fans leave the ground six minutes before the end of the match. Chelsea was taking on Newcastle. In the first half, Chelsea’s much changed side started the better. Newcastle slowly got a grip on the game and was well worth their lead. The second of Papiss Cisse’s goals saw Chelsea’s hopes for a top four finish dashed. The only way they can get into the Champions League next season is by beating Bayern on their home pitch, the Allianz Arena.

Liverpool’s poor run in the league continued as an own goal saw Fulham take all the points from Anfield. Many feel that Kenny Dalglish would have been shown the door had Liverpool’s cup journeys ended earlier. Liverpool can do a rare ‘domestic’ cup double by beating Chelsea as they already have the Carling Cup in the bag.

Liverpool has attacked with a lot of heart in the matches they have lost as well. Against Blackburn, they were two goals ahead but then went a man down. A late winner by Andy Carroll showed Liverpool’s mental strength, something which has been lacking in most Premier League games in the season.

Prediction:

Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool (AET)

 

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