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‘Easier’ Chelsea Team a Tough Task for Reds

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Luis Suarez of Liverpool and Branislav Ivanovic of ChelseaEver since Luis Garcia scored his ‘ghost goal’ in 2005 to send Liverpool through to the Champions League final at the expense of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, the Portuguese manager would be forgiven for seeing the Reds as his pain in the neck.

Despite dominating the league meetings and their very first knockout encounter (the 2005 League Cup final), two Champions League semi final defeats in three years with an FA Cup semi final defeat wedged in the middle meant that Rafael Benitez had the edge in the majority of the biggest matches.

Therefore, with an upcoming trip to Anfield at the weekend and the league title on the line, you might expect Mourinho to throw the kitchen sink at Liverpool in an attempt to deny them their 24 year old title dream.

Yet the opposite is set to occur.

Chelsea look likely to field a weakened team at Anfield on Sunday (although the team will probably still cost more than Liverpool’s), with the likes of Tomas Kalas, Marco van Ginkel and Andreas Christensen all featuring – along with those unable to play in the Champions League, such as Frank Lampard and Mohamed Salah.

The implication is that the first team players will be fresh for the crucial second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League semi final against Atletico Madrid.

Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City will be seething, as a Liverpool loss brings them back into the title race. However that does not apply to Chelsea after their home defeat to Sunderland, where the embarrassment stretched far beyond the end of Mourinho’s grand home streak to the bottom team in the league.

Therefore Mourinho is prepared to sacrifice the Premier League to Liverpool, and arguably it is the Reds that provide the reason why.

Those two losses at Anfield in 2005 and 2007 denied him the biggest prize in club football at the club where he won every domestic honour going. The near misses were arguably a factor in his demise at the club and his fractured relationship with Roman Abramovich, who was desperate to see his team triumph in Europe. Mourinho is no European slouch, winning the European Cup with FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010. But he wants to win it with the club he loves most.

Therefore one of his primary adversaries will now benefit from their past experiences. Or will they?

Even with this desire to win the Champions League, Mourinho perhaps would find no greater satisfaction than seeing his B team comprising of kids and second string players triumph at the ground which has become the toughest in the Premier League. In its own way, Mourinho is playing his trademark mind games once again.

Since the early defeat to Southampton, Liverpool have only dropped two points in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, with a number of thrashings handed out to big teams – Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton, who could all count themselves fortunate that they escaped with only 5-1 and 4-0 defeats.

Brendan Rodgers and his small squad have defied all expectations this season. Most expected a challenge for fourth place, perhaps sneaking in ahead of Arsenal or Tottenham. No one saw the extent of the collapse of Manchester United, while Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal all possess major flaws in attack, defence and the mind respectively. Tottenham are the team permanently in transition, while Everton are almost a large microcosm of their city neighbours, challenging for fourth place with a paper-thin squad.

There have been concerns over mental fragility after such a long wait between titles, while Liverpool are not without their own major flaw, with the defences lurching from either a comfortable clean sheet to an inability to prevent long crosses turning to goals (Craven Cottage and last week come to mind).

Yet the likes of Steven Gerrard and his manager seem to be relishing each and every moment, with the firm intention of capitalising on it.

The Chelsea news may come as a boost to this and the spirits of the Liverpool camp, but they must keep their guard up. Even though Mourinho may select an under strength side, it will possess the same characteristics.

Frustrate. Contain. Counter.

Liverpool are going to have to find a way through the defence, the earlier the better. This has not been a problem recently for the Reds, yet if they are not focused, if they take the Manchester City mentality that they will blow them away, it could come unstuck for them. Momentum would then be lost, even if it was a draw, which would keep the destiny of the title in their hands. Away to Crystal Palace is no easy task, but especially at the moment given their run of form, which is only second to the league leaders.

Even Newcastle, who have looked like they have been on their holidays since the departure of Yohan Cabaye, may represent what Q.P.R did for City two years ago (albeit they were fighting relegation).

Anfield looks set to have a makeover soon, with roughly 60,000 packed into the famous old stadium in two years time. Before that, it wants to see the 2014 Premier League title.

The opportunity is there – just keep the focus.

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1 comment

  • stevie says:

    Managers always field a weakened team wnen it suits them. But don’t be fooled. Mourinho will not field a weakened team and throw in the towel. He wants to win. If I’m wrong and he does, so what? Citeh can’t grumble. They’re a bunch of financial cheats but they never mention that do they?

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